Among other "expressions of gratitude" that can trip one's switch is the response in the Middle East of "Of course!"

It can easily be heard as "Of course, you are welcome." More often than not though, I hear it accented as "Of course, you stupid idiot! Why would you even say that?"

Peace in the Middle East is a precarious process often lost in translation.

Sent from my iPhone

> On Sep 18, 2015, at 7:22 PM, Lisa Stefan <lisa.stefan@stagen.com> wrote:
>
> Tony,
> What a great story about connecting the dots (and, I believe, fabulous
> reference to Steve Jobs¹ famous commencement address to Stanford - if any
> of you haven¹t seen it, I highly encourage you to watch:
> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D1R-jKKp3NA)
>
> Reminds me of when I first moved to the East Coast and I thought that
> Northeasterners were ³abrasive²  (Sorry, O¹Neill and Ersek!)  I would say
> ³Thank you² in a grocery store and the response would be a curt ³Yep.²  As
> the Persecutor I was, I called them ³Rude!² in my head. :)
>
> Šuntil I realized that West Coasters are the same.  The only difference is
> that they say, ³Sure² to convey ³You¹re welcome² instead of ³Yep.²
>
> Amazing how a little perspective goes a long way!
>
>
> Lisa Stefan | Executive Coach
> lisa.stefan@stagen.com |  602.317.7250
>
> Stagen | 3535 Travis  Street | Suite 100 | Dallas, TX 75204
> p: 480.563.0875 | m: 602.317.7250 | www.stagen.com <http://www.stagen.com>
>
>
>
>
>
>> On 9/18/15, 2:18 PM, "Tony Lillios" <tony@nivana.com> wrote:
>>
>> One a run today, a car passed me a tooted their horn to move me over. My
>> reflex reaction was 'Easy buddy. I'm over as far as I can!'  Soon after a
>> pair of bikers passed saying 'On your left' which I had been trained to
>> respond 'Thank You' to when training for the AIDS LifeCycle ride from SF
>> to LA. We were taught how this simple reflex response encourages safety
>> and communication.
>>
>> I realized in hindsight that car could easily (and likely) have been
>> tooting in the name of safety. And with that 'feedback' I would like to
>> reflexively respond with a 'Thank You'.
>>
>> So as Stagen has taught us to respond with simple 'Thank you' when
>> receiving positive or negative feedback, it was often a bit awkward (just
>> like it was for me to learn to do it with bikes passing me years ago).
>> But I so clearly see now how this practice becomes habit and feeds the
>> feedback cycle.  And I no how in the case of cycling it makes me feel
>> connected and joined in safety with other riders out there.
>>
>> Funny how things just click out of nowhere sometimes.
>>
>> -tony
>