Author Archives: spring-admin

There you are, congenially chatting with a small circle of people, only ONE of which is a Very Important Person to you. To the knowledge of all (including the VIP) he or she can hire you, fire you, promote you, make you rich, famous, or a star. Or perhaps this VIP is a celebrity, or can get you into the country club you've been salivating to join. No matter, this VIP knows you want something from them.

Should you fawn all over them? Definitely not. Should you play up to them? Of course not. But, wait a minute; shouldn't you at least pay a little more attention to them than the others? And the answer is – "NO!" In fact, give more deference to some of the others in the little gathering. You are now elevated to VIP status yourself.

A bonus of paying equal attention to everyone in the group is that you make them feel good, and you earn the affection and respect of all.

If you want to win esteem in embarrassing moments (theirs,) simply “don’t notice” your friends’ minor spills, slips, fumbles and blunders. Obviously ignore burps, coughs, hiccups, and all other signs of human frailty in your fellow mortals. If one of your companions suffers the humiliation of audibly passing gas, and should you wink, chuckle, hoot, or show any recognition of his biological blooper, he may return your cheap smile with a humiliated one of his own. But, you’ll lose points in his estimation.

And, say at lunch, a rushing tide of their spilled Coke is flooding across the table for a direct hit, and it will be impossible to ignore by the time it floods your lap. Simply deftly flip your napkin to obstruct the tabletop tidal wave, and try not to miss a syllable of the sentence you started before their mortifying gaffe. On such small sands the castles of respect are built.