Peace Offerings (Joanne’s Response)
I appreciate Celia's self-awareness. In response to Rob's angry words, to which she could easily have played the role of the wronged one, she was reflective rather than reactive. To Rob's credit he was specific in his anger, directing it at her "Is there a better time to talk about this?" question which he felt, rightly, that he had already answered. Specific anger, appropriately targeted, is more likely to evoke a thoughtful response than broad, blaming anger. So we can understand that Rob's appropriately directed anger evoked a thoughtful response from Celia, which led to her peace offering. I agree with Harold that peace offerings invite closeness and forgiveness, but they may be short-lived if the issue that sparked the confrontation is not fully resolved. I would encourage Celia to provide closure on this by introducing the subject again in a day or two, apologizing specifically for bugging him (rather than trying a more direct approach to getting what she wanted), and thanking Rob for receiving her peace offering.
