relative stress

I was the only consultant on a drilling site, and I was doing my usual running around – fielding phone calls from various contractors and my boss (“no, it would not be a good idea to have all the regulators watch the drilling in the one location that’s a mud bog”) while trying to sample soil and keep an eye on the driller. Then the facility rep came by with all sorts of logistical questions about the next phase of work.

The driller had been watching as I got progressively more frazzled. He said, “You shouldn’t get so stressed out about that stuff. It’ll happen or not.”

I said, “Easy enough for you to say – you just have to run the rig.”

He said, “Run the rig? If something breaks, it’s up to me to fix it. And everything comes to a screeching halt until then.”

Hmmm…he may have been on to something…