At first I was hurt that Peter had taken me wrong about my joking that he was a Pain.
In fact, I thought that when he took Pain as his new name, he was in on the joke. So I thought he would find another jab entertaining. So when he told me he thought I was insulting him, I was stunned.
The something finally occurred to me.
Here is a senstive young man fighting the same battle alone that I did. If I had found someone like Ole Bob, I would have been very happy.
But what would I have done if Ole Bob turned around and insulted the hell out of me, not once but twice?
My reaction would probably have been to go ape.
Peter’s reaction was to be deeply disappointed and say so.
Peter is definitely not the sort of person who takes abuse lying down.
The simple fact is that Peter considered Ole Bob too damned valuable to dump.
It took me two days to realize that I have been handed one hell of a compliment.
It took me two days to realize this after fifty years of experience. Half a century ago I would never have caught on.
Another hundred years or so and I could be really SMART.
#1 by Pain on 05/22/2006 - 11:08 pm
I do like being called a Pain. You are right that you are too valuable to dump.
#2 by Bob on 05/22/2006 - 11:54 pm
Once in Washington a guy asked me if I was mad at him.
I said no, I wasn’t.
His reply was classic:
“Well, I just wondered.”
“You’ve been awfully NICE to me lately.”
I treat people I don’t respect with an ice-cold courtesy.