Captain CrunchLanding a boat at a dock is just like parking a car in a garageñ
except for three things:
1. You cannot stop.
2. Both the car and the pavement are moving.
3. Chances are, 30 people are watching. They are willing to judge your skills.
My kids call me Captain Crunch.
So what understanding does the good skipper have that the novice lacks? The good skipper knows currents, winds, and wake. The good skipper knows momentum. The boat is moving; the dock is not. Resolution lies in bringing the boat to restñnot before it reaches the dock, and certainly not after!
Cabin living makes a metaphor of the boat and the dock. Let me provide a few examples:
The hyper son-in-law arrives from the city to a wife, children, and grandparents whose pace has slowed during a week of relaxation. Crash!
A neighbor's unexpected plumbing emergency trumps the day of fishing you had planned. Crash!
The call of the loon over glassy sunset waters is annihilated by a jet ski. Crash!
What do any of these disasters have to do with the boat and the dock?
They are all about momentum.
The awareness of ëmomentumí in human interaction is tact. The tactful person takes the crash out of our interactions. Like the skipper who appreciates invisible current and wind, the tactful person understands where someone else is coming fromñhow fast, and in what attitude. The tactful person does not let us come up short, and keeps us from crashing through where we are not welcome.
Tact is a virtue that requires experience and practice. There will be Captain Crunch experiences along the way. Still, there are people who make tact a wonderful gift. They develop it to the benefit of everyone around them.
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