The parable of the paper cut

It was a sunny weekday morning, and I was out for a run before my workday began. About a mile in, the podcast in my ears got replaced by the phone ringing. Unusual. 

It was my wife. Even more unusual.

I slowed to a walk and picked up the call.

“Hi, did you see her text message?” she said, with a bit of concern. 

“No, I’ve been out running,” I replied. “Let me take a look.”

Our daughter, early in her day as a ninth grader, had texted both of us a single line a few minutes earlier: “I cut myself”

My wife had texted back, asking if she was OK or needed any help. There was no reply.

“Do you want to go to the school?” she asked. “Should we call the nurse?”

I imagined two distinct scenarios. One, our teenager was sharing a bit of her school life with us — as we often asked her to do. The same girl who carries bandages in her bag in case someone might have a need. Or two, that she was lying on the floor in a pool of her own blood, using her last bit of strength to text her parents before passing out.

I was leaning toward the first scenario being more likely, and my wife was clearly leaning toward the second. She was at work a half hour away. I could run up to the school in about 15 minutes. But I pictured the scene it would cause if a sweaty, out-of-breath, middle-aged guy panted his way into the main office at a crowded high school, and it struck me as a bit of overkill.

“I’m sure she’s surrounded by people who can help her if she needs,” I said. “Why don’t you text her back and make sure she’s OK, tell her we’re happy to help if we can?”

I finished my run and continued on home, hopeful we’d made the right decision. About a half hour later, we got a reply:

“Oh no it’s a small cut

Like a paper cut

Just

With my finger nail”

Sweet relief in the form of an almost-haiku. This episode did make me think about my clients, though. About how many times they might find themselves encountering a situation with a colleague, a boss, a direct report — and having an entirely different interpretation. 

Is it a trauma with major blood loss? Or just a paper cut?

Coaching prompts:

• If a situation is causing you stress at work, what do you actually know about it? What are the best case and the worst case your imagination could conjure?

• What are the consequences of intervening in this situation? What are the consequences of ignoring it?