Dumb & Smart

Yesterday I was assigned to take notes during a meeting when I didn't know what was going on. It was just a barrage of acronyms, glancing references to coalitions I'm not familiar with, and meeting-speak phrases like "we'll leverage that issue" or "let's finesse our dialogue with him." Even if I understood all the words of the discussion, without knowing context I couldn't take good notes - so I had to either guess at what it meant, or copy down exact sentences - and I couldn't write fast enough to keep up with the pace of conversation. Why can't they take their own notes? Or at least "context it" for me? But if I interrupt to ask questions, they get annoyed at having to take time out to bring me up to speed. The whole situation made me feel pretty dumb.

I like it, on the other hand, when my speech patterns influence other people. If I can manage to use a particular word in conversation and it gets stuck in someone else's head and they inadvertently use that same unusual word a few minutes later, it makes me feel smart. It comes down to a battle of wills - who has the most dominant speech patterns? Maybe I am just an egotistical maniac for enjoying that. But cut me a little slack. Honestly, I have so little power in my life, the only beings I can control are my guinea pigs, and sometimes not even then. They flounce away from me in defiance if I don't come bearing treats.