Jumper…

You and I do not speak English, French, or German. I speak Chet. You speak your language and it’s not your native tongue, so to speak. Generations have slang. Cultures the same. Countries? Yes indeed.

Last week, as I kept the room purposely cold for our team practice in London, one of the participants (Chef) approached me upon our first break and asked if he should get a jumper. My mind processed its library for this word and came up with nothing (except for a childhood thought around a woman’s outfit of some sorts). So, I returned a puzzled look instead of a word. Catching my confusion, Chef, was ccd. A jumper is the British word for sweater. He was asking me if I was intending on keeping the room cold enough to warrant a sweater. We laughed and laughed and laughed at the simple, yet profound learning. We both speak English but it’s not the same, you know.

Most conflict (I’ve come to believe) is simply a conversation to be had. Oftentimes, it’s lost in translation. What, friend, are you assuming you understand simply because you both speak English, French, or German?

Those two dinosaurs in the pic above (Slo & Downer) don’t speak English. Slo speaks finance. Downer speaks software engineering. Assume less. Good.

Live hard. Love harder…