Healing through words πŸ˜„

    The Printer That Smelled My Fear: I Forgave It, But Trust Was Permanently Disconnected!

    What’s something you’ve forgiven but haven’t forgotten?

    We often talk about forgiveness, emotional maturity and letting go. But nobody prepares us for the real test of patience: an office printer.

    Meet Xerxes, the fourth-floor office printer. A giant beige machine with a digital screen, an impressive collection of buttons and the temperament of a spoilt royal.

    I had an important client presentation to print, with barely ten minutes to spare. Confidently, I pressed PRINT.

    Xerxes made a strange noise, paused dramatically and flashed a red message:

    PAPER JAM IN TRAY 2.

    I opened Tray 2. Nothing.

    I checked again. Still nothing.

    Not even a tiny piece of paper to justify his tantrum.

    I opened every possible door, pulled out the trays, checked the corners and gently patted his casing.

    “Come on, buddy. We are on the same team.”

    Apparently, we weren’t.

    Xerxes had decided to go on strike, and I was his chosen victim.

    I could practically hear him laughing behind that innocent-looking screen.

    With two minutes left before the meeting, he suddenly sprang into action and printed the entire presentation at lightning speed.

    And just to remind me who was in charge, he added one completely blank sheet.

    A masterpiece of passive aggression.

    I wanted to throw him out of the window. Instead, I took a deep breath, practised my mindfulness and decided to be the bigger person.

    By 3 PM, I had forgiven Xerxes.

    After all, he was only a machine. Perhaps he was overworked, underappreciated or simply going through a midlife crisis.

    But forgetting? Absolutely not.

    These days, I print important documents three days in advance. I keep backup copies in my drawer like secret government files.

    And whenever I press PRINT, I casually walk away, pretending I couldn’t care less.

    Because I have discovered something important: office printers can smell fear.

    Xerxes and I now enjoy a peaceful relationship. I respect his boundaries, he prints my documents, and we maintain a perfectly professional distance.

    My lesson in forgiveness?

    You can forgive someone, release the anger and move on.

    But that doesn’t mean you have to trust them with your future.

    Especially when that someone is a beige machine with a red blinking light and a criminal record of paper jams!

    Xerxes, darling, we are good.

    But you are NEVER getting my last-minute presentation again. πŸ˜‚

    “Forgiveness is letting go of anger. Wisdom is remembering the lesson, even when you’ve forgiven the person.” ❀️

    21 responses to “The Printer That Smelled My Fear: I Forgave It, But Trust Was Permanently Disconnected!”

    2. πŸ˜‚β€οΈ Poor Xerxes! I don’t think I’ve ever met an office printer with such a royal attitude! You’ve certainly given that beige machine a personality of its own. Well done! πŸ˜‚

      I loved the message beneath the humour. Forgiveness doesn’t automatically mean trust, and that’s a lesson worth remembering. πŸ™Œ

      Thank you for another wonderfully entertaining read, Meeta. I thoroughly enjoyed it! β€οΈπŸ€—

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      • WOW ,Xerxes has certainly earned his royal title. πŸ˜„Forgiveness without trust is a lesson I learned the hard way.

        Glad the message came through beneath the humour. Thank you for such a kind comment.Your kind words mean a lot. See you at the next post. ❀️

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        • You’re most welcome, Meeta! ❀️ And I think that’s an important lesson. Forgiveness doesn’t necessarily mean restoring trust or giving someone the same place in our lives again. Sometimes we can make peace with something without inviting it back into our lives.

          The humour just made it more memorable and what is better than having a laugh now and then about the mistakes we made in life? I do that a lot. LOL!

          And Xerxes certainly takes his royal responsibilities seriously, just like Rambo! Hahahaha! πŸ˜„πŸ‘‘ Looking forward to the next one. Sending hugs! πŸ€—β€οΈ

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        • Thank you so much! πŸ˜„ That’s such a wise way to put it: forgiveness without handing back the keys. And you’re right, a good laugh at our own mistakes is the best medicine. Xerxes definitely takes his royal duties seriously, especially the dramatic exits! πŸ‘‘ Can’t wait for the next one. Hugs right back to you! πŸ€—β€οΈ

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        • You’re very welcome, Meeta! Whahahaha! πŸ˜‚ Xerxes certainly knows how to make a dramatic exit. I think he deserves his own royal theatre at this rate! πŸ‘‘πŸ€£

          And yes, sometimes we have to laugh at ourselves. Heaven knows I’ve given myself enough material over the years! LOL!

          Looking forward to the next adventure with His Royal Highness. Sending hugs right back! πŸ€—β€οΈ

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    4. Poor Xerxes! He’s been forgiven, but his career prospects have taken a permanent hit. Happy for the professional distance you now maintain. Who knew office equipment could teach us so much about trust? I hope Xerxes behaves himself, though I wouldn’t trust him with anything important! πŸ˜€

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    5. Xerxes sounds like the kind of colleague we all have encountered at some point!!!!!!!!
      The blank sheet after all that drama was the perfect finishing touch. I’m convinced they have a special talent for malfunctioning whenever we’re in a hurry. I think you’ve taught us an important lesson here: forgiveness is possible, but trust has to be earned. And in Xerxes’ case, I wouldn’t trust him with anything more important than a grocery list! πŸ˜‚πŸ‘

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      • Haha thank you Sri πŸ˜„ You’ve nailed it. Xerxes has a real talent for dying the second we’re in a rush. And yes, forgiveness is possible, but trust has to be earned. For now he’s on grocery-list duty only! Thanks for the laugh and for reading along. πŸ’›πŸ’

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    8. I remember a printer just like Xerxes! Got me into so much trouble! My boss actually thought I was an illiterate villager because I couldn’t get the damn thing to work! Every time he demanded a print out, I could literally wet my pant! I was so afraid of that thing! Thank God I was good at everything else…warna Godonlyknows how he would have treated me! Gives me shudders to this day!

      I wish I had your poise back then. I let a machine win over me! πŸ˜΅β€πŸ’«πŸ₯Ί

      I read this twice and each time, it had me ROFL! Meetaji you are bloody good with staging comedy!

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      • “I let a machine win over me” is going to stay with me πŸ˜‚ Every office had one of those printers, and they somehow knew when the boss was watching. Being scared of it was perfectly reasonable.

        And please don’t be hard on your younger self. You were good at everything else, and that’s what counts. A printer’s mood says nothing about your talent.Thank you so much for the lovely words, they really made my day. πŸ’πŸ’ž

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