DBing, European style

[Papa4Life]

So, as is my wont lately, I asked W tonight about work. I say that because, back in the old days, I was generally so wrapped up in the "rush hour" of activities around dinner time that it was hard to hear somebody talking a mile a minute in my ear about her problems without acknowledging the seven balls that I was trying to juggle at the time. What a fool, a genuine fool, I was for not sensing this need she has to get it all out so that she can relax and get on with the shift to life on the homefront.

Anyway, she was talking about how things were going and I was using active listening techniques, bouncing ideas off of her and so forth. I even quitly slipped in a suggestion based on DBing about doing a 180 to challenge her staff's expectations and force them to alter their response. Of course I didn't let on that it was a DB tehnique, but hey: if it works, why not use it?

At any rate, at one point, I mentioned that I like talking to her about work because I enjoy the conversations we have. This was actually a bit of a screwup on my part, because in reality I was referring to the fact that she battens down the hatches when I bring up essentially ANY other topic, so it seems that whenever she talks about work, the alien heads out to pick up a pack of smokes and I can have an actual human-type convo with my beloved W for five minutes at a stretch. W on the other hand didn't catch this slipup and instead asked "really? Because you never wanted to hear about my job before." To which I responded, "And do you think there's been any ten minute period in the last three months I haven't kicked myself about that?" Well, my dearly departed grandmother must have been smiling down on me at that moment because, just as I dismissing myself as a self-defeating imbicile, my W looked over and asked, "what was that?" Ah, nothin'. I'm just glad things are going better at work. I have always really admired your incredible work ethic and your dedication to being an excellent manager.

Thanks, Gram.