True 'dat

I woke up mad.  Actually, I went to sleep mad and the rotten night's rest I got (thank you hotel patrons who don't to shut. the. f. up. in the hall after midnight) only made it worse.  The "why" of the mad is immaterial but the reality of the situation was this:

I was mad.

Then the...person...who instigated my righteous anger called.  Wanted to talk it out and apologize.  My typical instinct is to let folks off the hook, but today...

No.

The hook was firmly set and I was so not interested in letting anyone off it.

So I spoke my truth.  Respectful but clear.  "Dude, you messed up.  Don't get cranky with me for not falling all over myself to accept your apology."

I've never ever in my life told someone that I needed time before I could accept an apology because I just wasn't sure I wanted to forgive.

You know what?

It felt damn good.