August 26, 2008Poison Phrase ~ That’s what I said
June was telling Avin how to change the page setup in his word document. When she told him to click on file and select page setup, Avin said there was no page setup. Then he found it. Then June told him to find landscape. Avin was silent for a moment as he searched the dialogue box, and then said, “Oh, should I select landscape?” June replied with a yes, resisting the temptation to say,
- That’s what I said.
Walking people through a process can be irritating because they get where you are at their own pace. It’s common for them to discover what you were pointing them toward as if they found it on their own. Only the ego needs to tell them that’s what you said.
I remember my son once telling me something I had told him several times as if it was front page news. I was delighted that he had embraced the idea and refrained from reminding him where he heard it first. Yes, it was tempting to claim credit!
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It’s like jokes…
When someone is telling a joke and another jumps to quote the punchline the teller is taken down of the fun of the telling, and the other gets high on power and control and the audience loses.
I prefer to be silent and watch the teller, and the audience enjoy the joke and I enjoy having allowed it to happen that way.
Comment by Malcolm — August 28, 2008 @ 7:39 pm