Tact

Posted on by Reena Saxena

“I always call a spade a spade, take it or leave it”, hisses my firebrand sister and leaves the room.


To each her own. She has changed three jobs in the last two years and been in and out of relationships ever since her teens. I must confess she is often right on logical and ethical grounds, but somehow bosses and boyfriends find her overbearing.


I’ve had mixed feelings about her. I looked up to her as a hero when she picked up battles with schoolteachers to defend me. Over the years, I often thought what she would lose by staying silent.


I find black suffocating, so I walk out of dark lanes. White is a little too tidy and shows up stains quickly. In the tender gray, I swim undisturbed.


Call it tact or diplomacy, this is the way I choose to live.

Prosery at dVerse hosted by Lisa

Prompt line by Celia Dropkin

In the tender gray, I swim undisturbed

21 thoughts on “Tact”

  3. Great examples given and it also makes one think twice about how our own actions/reactions come across to those in the gray. I think we need both kinds of people for the balance. Nice one, Reena.

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  4. Reena, I like how you use concrete examples to illustrate your stance. One of the keys is being aware of how your choices will affect your world, as you also include in the rationale. Good use of the line!

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  6. This really moved me! It parallels the relationship between my sister and me. I am apt to bring the fight and she retreats calling for peace. There is value in both temperaments, as you explain. The gray is where most people fall. Where would we be without those extremes of heroes and peacemakers? I value all people who are unashamedly themselves. ❤

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