We were in survival mode, emotional lock down. The hatches were battened down. There was no chance of leakage or escape here. However the problem with this is that it was not a sustainable siuation. The pressure was bound to lift off the lid at some point. And when it did, God help anyone who was caught in explosion.
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The problem was that they were at cross purposes. There was no shared vision. A non starter, like an ostrich trying to fly. The tension built up and the words became barbed with spite.