Another chapter from my book

"What book?" you may ask. I'm going to write a book about all of the little things I think about. I may have about five or six chapters now, and because that's not enough for a book, you'll have to wait to buy it from Barnes & Noble or whatever.

For now, read this. "You can't listen to anyone when you have words in your mouth." You know how we only listen long enough to think of what we want to say next, then we wait until the person you're "listening to" takes a breath and then you let those words fly. We don't listen to folks any more. We just wait our turn to talk. I can't think of anything more rude. And I'm just as guilty as anyone. When I meet a customer and talk to them about what material they cut or why they like this or that, I'm waiting for the perfect chance to tell them about the products I came there to sell. I try to ask more questions and to allow them to tell me exactly how I can be a hero, but alas, it's hard to listen, with words in my mouth.