Author’s Note: I must have been having a rough week at work when I penned this in 2016 but it sadly applies even more now. From The Write Brain Workbook: “Mute Button – use as many of the following words as you can: volume, channels, 57, last, control, favorite, up, select, remote, 67, record, down, HDMI, source; start with “if the mute button worked on people, I’d…” (I used a few of the words, as I edited it this year)

If the mute button worked on people, I’d use it on 67 percent of my least favorite coworkers.  Yes, that is a strangely specific percentage but I’m trying to give at least a few people some credit. If I could turn the volume down on the source of most of my irritation, it would be on the people who are the most negative and get on my last nerve. My remote control would be able to jam the snarky, self entitled whining that absolutely drives me crazy. Of course, there’s always the dilemma Melinda Dillon faced in the Twilight Zone  revamp…if I had the power to shut up people who annoy me, would I want to give them their voices back? Her character had to choose between peace and quiet and nuclear Armageddon, but sometimes I think in my office, I  have about the same choice.