Good Grief!

Q: To begin with, how can grief be good?
A: I don't know but let's not worry about that.

Q: So what should we worry about?
A: Nothing. Don't worry, Be Happy.

Q: Be Happy about what?
A: Happy that this is a kind of first.

Q: Why is it a kind of first?
A; Because I have never done this before.

Q: What have I never done before?
A: I have never written a post within 2 days of publishing my last one, so it's a first.

Q: What was my last post about?
A: What Women Want...

Q: What will people think when they first read that post?
A: They will think it was inspired by wife.

Q: So wasn't it inspired by my wife?
A: Inspired, YES. She is my BIGGEST inspiration.

Q: But was she the reason for Grief?
A: No, not at all, it was just a series of stuff I saw and heard that led to my professional perspective on What Women Want...

Q: So what did I see?
A: For starts, I saw the movie, What Women Want (for the umpteenth time). And if you still haven't seen it, I still recommend it.

Q: And what did I hear?
A: I heard a joke about how women think from a well-known stand up comedian.

Q: And who might he be?
A: I am not mentioning his name. This is not a free advertisement for him.

Q: So it was a "He", wasn't it?
A: Yes, that is kind of obvious from the post itself.

Q: OK, let the last post lie, why is this one called good grief?
A: That is because I have had a lot of grief this week.

Q: And what, may I ask, that was?
A: It began on Monday, with a client, who gave me grief.

Q: Why did he give me grief?
A: Because he kept saying, "Hi so-and-so, How come you haven't given me any grief today".

Q: So that gave me grief?
A: Really, not that, but the fact that we were performing miserably on a project for this client.

Q: Oh come on! Wasn't the client being nice with his sense of humor?
A: He was being nice no doubt, but that did not take away the fact that we were performing miserably.

Q: So what did that mean?
A: That meant a few more sleepless nights for me.

Q: Really? How sleepless?
A: 2 hours of sleep is all I got on Monday night.

Q: Isn't 2 hours plenty?
A: Yes, it's plenty of grief.

Q: Oh, come on! Was it that bad?
A: Yes, given that, I had 2 flights to the same client's location on Tuesday and a 4 hour meeting that afternoon.

Q: So did I sleep right through the meeting?
A: I tried, but it was too hot to sleep.

Q: How hot was it?
A: Despite our temporary miserable performance, the client is giving us more work, that's how hot it was.

Q: So did I go party after the meeting?
A: Yes I did. Dinner on the riverside and then watching basketball and babes in a British bar till midnight.

Q: Quite a party, eh?
A: Yes, but that meant I didn't sleep on time that night either.

Q: 2 nights in a row is not that bad, is it?
A: It's bad if you have 2 more flights to ride on the next day.

Q: And exactly where was I off to?
A: Rochester, New York

Q: Wow, quite a traveller, aren't I?
A: I do what I must do.

Q: And what did I do in Rochester?
A: I spent a sleepless Wednesday night.

Q: And how did that come about?
A: The Phillies beat the Yankees in the first World Series baseball game and then there was this movie on TBS.

Q: Not again! What movie?
A: I am Sam.

Q: Amn't I Lakshmi?
A: I am Lakshmi, but the movie was "I am Sam".

Q: What about Sam?
A: He made stay up until 4 AM.

Q: Wasn't I planning to show up for work Thursday morning?
A: I was, at our corporate headquarters.

Q: So what's the story?
A: I was up at 7 AM and worked until 7 PM.

Q: Then what?
A: That was the best part of the week, I had a south Indian meal.

Q: So didn't that put me to sleep?
A: Not at all. I ended up watching an Indian movie.

Q: How would I watch an Indian movie at a hotel in Rochester?
A: Slumdog Millionaire.

Q: How is that an Indian movie?
A: Made in India, Indian movie.

Q: Didn't it get some Oscar Awards?
A: Yes, and I got another sleepless night.

Q: Didn't I Thank God, the next day was Friday.
A: Yes I did thank god. But for him I wouldn't
have made my meeting at 9 AM.

Q: And how did that go?
A: It went well, but that meant more work.

Q: So is it all work and no play?
A: No. It's all work and no sleep.

Q: Won't you get some sleep on Friday night?
A: Only if I get home on time.

Q: What's up with that?
A: My flight was delayed and I am now sitting on this plane, writing this piece.

Q: When will I stop writing this piece?
A: Looks like I won't stop writing this piece, because, my plane is landing in Philadelphia and the hostess didn't even notice I am still chugging away on my laptop...

Q: Now, will I break the rules and keep my laptop on through the landing?
A: No I won't. If I did that, I probably wouldn't sleep tonight!

Q: So did I shut off the laptop?
A: Yes, but only to open it again when I was on the shuttle back home.

Q: How is it working in the shuttle?
A: Quite a bumpy ride, but at least I will sleep tonight.

Q. How will that be? Won't I be up trying to upload this to the internet?
A. I will, but that will make me feel happy.

Q: Will this be the end of my grief?
A: No. But this is definitely the end of my piece.

Good Night. No grief...


This is an original post published on Oct 30, 2009 by Lakshminarayan Balasubramaniam.