Ask Amy: Overwhelmed man wants to withdraw
Dear Amy: The letter about the interrupting wife reminded me of a story from my early career in the 1980s.
I went on a business trip to New York City with my boss, a reserved man from the English countryside.
We spent the day with an Italian American New Yorker, touring trading floors.
At the end of the day, the two of them talked about how our host had done almost all of the talking for the whole day.
He talked about business, but also family, food — you name it.
My boss said that where he came from, you couldn’t speak until the other person had finished.
Our host replied that where he came from you had to keep talking until you were interrupted.
We all thought this was very funny — and what a great cultural lesson!
– Earned and Learned
Dear Learned: One thing I appreciate about this story is how the two men decoded and shared their own communication styles.
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(You can email Amy Dickinson at askamy@amydickinson.com or send a letter to Ask Amy, P.O. Box 194, Freeville, NY 13068. You can also follow her on Twitter @askingamy or Facebook.)
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