Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 3:00 — 4.1MB)
We’re continuing the story of Fran and Jesus on the Job. Fran is having a tough week because she is having difficulty setting boundaries. It’s Wednesday and she has just barely made a deadline for her most important client, but it was at the expense of late hours last night because she allowed a coworker to talk her into helping her for “ten minutes,” which turned into three hours. And now she is exhausted and sleepy, and she’s counting the minutes until it’s time to go home. Then in comes her manager.
“Fran, if you’re not busy tonight, I’d love for you to join me for dinner with the Vice President of Marketing, who is in town this week, you know. I’ve been telling him about your success and how much you’ve contributed to our success, and he asked if you would join us. Can you?”
Don’t do it, Fran, the inner voice of God’s Spirit seems to say to her, but how can she say no to this opportunity. So she hears herself saying, “That’s very nice of him. I, uh, I think I can make that happen. Let me make a call and I’ll get back to you.”
She calls her mom and asks if she can bring the kids over tonight for a short time. Then, when she gets home and explains to the kids that she has to go out to dinner with her boss, Drew complains, “But Mom, we agreed that you would help me with my science project tonight. You promised.”
Oops, that’s right. Now she needs to talk her parents into coming over to their house so her Dad can help Drew with his science project. It’s not convenient for them, but like Fran, they have trouble saying no, so they agree.
Well, the dinner with the Vice President wasn’t as productive as Fran had imagined. After a few drinks, he told some inappropriate stories, made some remarks that verged on sexual overtures, and it became a pretty uncomfortable situation. Fran used the excuse of getting home to her kids to exit the dinner as early as possible, but it was still after ten o’clock by the time she got home. With apologies to her parents, she tried to clean up some of the mess from the science project, get her house in decent condition, and fall into bed at midnight.
Refusing to set boundaries has consequences for yourself and for other people in your life.