How I ever managed to marry a man even more anti-social than I am is a true mystery to me.
I have witnessed Sarge's "No-Friends Barrier" technique in person. I have heard tell of it based on descriptions given of my husband (people say he's really quiet, act all surprise when I tell them he's a barrel of laughs), but never have I witnessed it first hand. Until now.
This happened the other day while we were out in our back yard enjoying the nice weather, and freshly mown grass. Our neighbor wandered over to chat with us. The neighbor works in the same area as Sarge, but on a different "team", different "job", and different schedule. Sarge also out-ranks him, but is not his direct supervisor.
Anyhoo. The method.
The neighbor was talking about something, and mentioned Sarge as an example. He does not call Sarge, "Sarge". He calls him "Master Sargeant de Gallo". In fact I have noticed that he always calls him that whenever we see him. He lives right next door, we see him all the time, and I don't imagine them moving anytime soon.
That would be like if a mother of one of Piko's friends called me Mrs. de Gallo all the time instead of using my fist name. Weird.
Later I asked Sarge why he didn't just tell the neighbor to call him Sarge.
"Nope" he says, "that just encourages friendliness, and I just don't need that."
I know that he needs to maintain a certain level of separation between himself and another person of a lower rank, but wow. Just wow. I have to bow down to that level of Anti.
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2 comments:
""Nope" he says, "that just encourages friendliness, and I just don't need that.""
Oh hells bells! Thats all you have to do?
I have this weird pattern starting with our friends. We want to socialize for a short amount of time. More often maybe, but for -much- shorter time periods. That makes our friends and family want to sterno-grip for longer periods of time.
For example, I have a girlfriend from grade-school who will talk to me on the phone for 2 and a half hours. Then - when I pry myself off the phone, she calls me back - and talks for another hour and a half. 4 f-ing hours!
My whole freaking day is shot and I'm exhausted.
I could learn a thing or two from Sarge.
Yeah, he's a cold fish that one. Get a couple of 7&7's in him though, and he's everyone's best friend.
I hate the phone too. Lucky for me, most of my good friends are pretty much, "Pass the info, and get off" kind of chicks. Unfortunately the people who keep me on the line for hours are the people I don't like talking to. Other than my close friends, the only other person I can stand talking to for more than an hour is my mom. And I only chat with her onece or twice a month, so that's not too bad.
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