Throwing the Bomb

Week three. I flagged it. Week four. I flagged it again. Week five… …you'll see. It started with an email, innocent enough CC'd the whole department, subject line was rough "Just a quick question" — famous last words, friend Nobody knew that Monday was the beginning of the end Someone hit reply all, didn't think it through Fourteen people answered things nobody asked you to Legal jumped in, Finance had opinions too The VP got looped in — now what are we gonna do I watched it from my desk like a nature documentary "Observe the corporate ecosystem in its natural territory" Thirty seven emails deep, the thread had gone to war Nobody remembered what the original question was for Boom — there goes the inbox, watch it all explode Nobody read my warning, nobody saw the road I tried to stop it, flagged it, escalated twice Now everybody's throwing the bomb and blaming the device Boom — reply all, reply all The fire's spreading down the hall I called it, wrote it, sent it, signed it, dated it and all Now everybody's throwing the bomb and watching others fall Day two, the thread's alive, it mutated overnight Someone forwarded it wrong and started a new fight An assistant replied to everyone with "noted" A manager replied to that — I should've been promoted For surviving this alone, for keeping my composure While seventeen departments argued about closure Someone asked for minutes — I have them, right here From three weeks ago when I said THIS WOULD HAPPEN, it's clear The deadline came and went while they were busy typing Nobody approved the thing they spent two weeks hyping I escalated formally, I escalated loud Now suddenly I'm the villain to this reply-all crowd Boom — there goes the inbox, watch it all explode Nobody read my warning, nobody saw the road I tried to stop it, flagged it, escalated twice Now everybody's throwing the bomb and blaming the device Boom — reply all, reply all The fire's spreading down the hall I called it, wrote it, sent it, signed it, dated it and all Now everybody's throwing the bomb and watching others fall …I have the email. The one I sent on week three. Time stamped. Read receipts. Everything. I could forward it right now. To everyone. … I won't. … … …okay maybe just to my manager. Week six, the dust settled, casualties were high Three project timelines dead, nobody asked why An executive summary landed on my plate "Can you explain what happened?" — sure, let me illustrate I opened up the thread, I printed every page Forty two responses deep, a monument to rage I highlighted in yellow every flag I sent before Walked into that meeting and I laid it on the floor "Here's week three. Here's week four. Here's my follow up. Here's the moment someone hit reply all and blew it up. Here's the part where nobody owned it, nobody replied direct. Here's me. Right here. Trying to resurrect." Dead silence in the room. Someone coughed. The VP nodded slowly. …and scheduled a meeting to discuss it. Boom — there goes the inbox, watch it all explode I documented everything, I covered every road Reply all, reply all, the saga never ends Next time read the subject line before you hit send …I'm sending a Slack about this. …Actually no. …Email. Reply all. …Let it burn.