My coworker pulled me aside after a meeting last Thursday and said my constant 'sorry but can I ask...' made me look unsure, and she was right. Now I just say 'can you clarify that part?' and people actually listen better. Has anyone else had to retrain how they talk after a single comment?
I was 38 years old standing in my bedroom holding a crumpled mess of elastic. My mom came over to help me pack for a move. She grabbed the fitted sheet and had it folded flat in like 20 seconds. I stood there watching her hands work and felt stupid. All those years of balling them up and shoving them in the linen closet. She said my grandma taught her the trick back in the 70s. Nobody ever showed me the proper way. Has anyone else had a late-in-life revelation about something as basic as folding laundry?