Being frank

I didn’t usually get impatient at work. But it was the day after my cell phone was stolen/lost, and D was in the room going on about the same things that she had been complaining about for the past few months. She threw her hands in the air, turned to the external personnel and said, I've already told them many times, ending with big shakes of her head, like what a teacher would do when talking about a kid that she'd given up on.

Most times, I would hold my tongue. It was not my place to comment much, and I would rather not start it over such trivial matters. She was making mountains out of molehills, and it was such tiring, demoralising office behavior.

But on that day, when she turned to complain to me (again) about the things that the rest of us had no control over, I looked at her and replied the very obvious in a flat nonchalant tone.

D was probably a little shocked that I did so (she probably wasn't expecting responses/answers to her complains/bitching), coz the replies she gave after that seemed pretty flustered. I was a little amused. I didn't stay around to see her complete her bossy routine; I would rather be attending to other quieter activities, like my lunch for e.g.

I wasn't around on Monday. When I came into the office today, Sy told me that D had complained to the Boss that I was rude to her. I didn't know the full story but I heard that Boss hadn't been too bothered about it (everyone in office knew how D was like), and even suggested that perhaps she was rude to me first. Or that I was simply being direct.