I was meeting with a church building committee yesterday and presenting a final estimate for a project we will start next week. We were discussing some re-pricing to get a clear idea of some of our options. The one building committee member suggested I get some additional price break-down from one of the trade contractor bidders that I doubt we’ll use. I didn’t want to waste the bidder’s time if he really didn’t have a shot at the job and said, “Well, I don’t want to jerk the guy off.” I kept on talking as my brain slowly processed what I had just said.

It’s rare that I’m embarrassed but I certainly was then. The guys kind of laughed as I finally got around to saying that I should have chosen my phrasing a bit more carefully. They were good-natured and mentioned that construction will be starting next week and lots of things will get said in church that usually don’t.

I really was surprised that I just blurted that out and it took me about ten minutes to realize that I was thinking both that I didn’t want to jerk the guy around and that I didn’t want to tick him off. Unfortunately, I guess my brain combined them.

If you want to see one of the best excited answers to a question, watch the short video below from Dr Strangelove: Or How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb. General Buck Turgidson responds to the US President about the possibility of an accidentally released nuclear bomb mission actually getting to Russia to hit its target. I laugh out loud every time I watch it.

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UxLe8MWdWe0&NR=1