somewhere between A and B

It seems to me that humans generally respond in the same fashion to similar experiences. It is what I call the "Aà B stimulus reaction thingy." Generally speaking, once we are hit with A we go straight to B without thinking, allowing ourselves to respond in the same fashion we did the last time something similar occurred. Still, there is a tiny nanosecond between A and B in which we can stop, think and choose our reaction.

The director came to my office about 40 minutes ago under the guise of brainstorming about the upcoming Adult Day Services Week observation. What he really wanted was to tell me that in the fall, his daughter, Heather, the opera singer, is appearing at Lincoln Center with Clair Barry. "You remember Clair Barry, don't you?" he asked.

My first response was to be irritated with his trivia test AND the fact that he was talking about Heather… AGAIN! But today, for some reason, I took that tiny second and saw him as who he is, a proud father who wants to talk about his daughter. I also realized that we all want attention and long to be recognized, so I listened while he told me about Heather. I lost 30 minutes of work but he left happy and I heard him down the hall asking someone else, "You remember Claire Barry, don't you?"

So to all of you who patiently listen to me when I rhapsodize about what Little Mary said on the phone the other night, or how well Maddie is doing in gymnastics (she REALLY is) I want to say, "Thank you for listening." To those of you who have never had to listen to me, I hope to talk to you soon.