It's fine

It's Fine

by The Castaway Poet

The other day,
I was in charge of a big event
encompassing a lot
of events,
people,
and minions.
Things were going semi-smoothly,
as they do with all big events.
Human error always finds a way
to foul things up
eventually.
Events featuring humans
will always have mistakes,
even tiny ones.
One of my minions
came up to me with (another!) problem.
And I said, "It's fine."
And that was my mantra
to get me through the day.
It's fine. It's fine.
Over and over,
again and again.
Until I sounded like
a skipping CD
or a virus eaten MP3.
My friend overheard
my mumbled chant.
And she laughed.
She said,
"If you have to say,
'It's fine,'
seventeen times in a row,
it's probably not fine."
And we laughed
because she was
absolutely
correct.
My minion relaxed
as the tension fled the room
like a refugee from Cuba.
Later,  I confided in my friend
that things were actually not fine.
But if I said, "It's fine," to my minion,
that minion would think it was fine
and keep working
and maybe leave me alone
so I could
think,
plan,
solve all the problems of the world,
you know, little stuff.
I have found
from years of experience
that my minions tend to self-destruct
or turn into sniveling bubbles of
spineless goo
or run away from me screaming
when I say, "I will stab you
in the face if you bring one more problem
to my attention today
instead of just handling it
by yourself."
And that is what I am thinking
when I am saying, "It's fine."