James 1:19

James 1:19 ESV
(19) Know this, my beloved brothers: let every person be quick to hear, slow to speak, slow to anger;

I would have done well to remember this yesterday. As a bit of background, they are installing new carpet in our office. It is, shall we say, a tad "busy". In fact, some have likened it to the pattern you might see at a casino. (someone wondered if there will now be a $10 charge to use the ATM) This has become a running joke among denizens of my side of our building.

Yesterday I had a meeting at the other end of the building. I was late getting there for a few reasons:

1. I didn't leave my desk until 1 minute after it started. I was on the phone with a user.
2. It was on the far end of the building
3. I got lost trying to find it

So I came in probably 10 minutes late. This meeting had people from various departments. I tried to make light of my lateness by saying that I was late for two reasons:

1. I got lost
2. I had motion sickness from the new carpet

Turns out that the new head of a part of our general services was in the meeting. Oh, and he was the one who chose the pattern. Basically, I made a huge ass of myself.

The manager of our helpdesk is a great guy who has made a career of putting his foot in his mouth and has served as something of a mentor for me when I do it. He smoothed over the situation, which was nice. I later apologized to the guy I offended.

Sometimes it's better not to make a joke, especially when it's not a particularly good one. Hopefully this will sink in someday.