The Power of No

It never ceases to amaze me that a word that is so easy for a 2 y/o to say is often quite difficult for so many of us adults, (myself included.) This magic word is the Word, No. One syllable, no waiting.

I've had a couple instances to practice my "No" muscle power recently. Once at our neighborhood swim meet this past weekend, and just now with a phone call.

Saturday at the Swim Meet, I volunteered to cook, (as I have for the last 5 years!!), making up the breakfast burritos and hot dogs, several dozen at a time. I'm good, fast, and clean. When I was in the middle of removing the hot dogs from the boiling water for the lunch rush, another parent who volunteers as a Stroke and Turn Judge, comes into the kitchen with a Coach from the competing team. He requests that I immediately stop what I am doing to assemble a Chicken Salad for this Coach.

I tell him politely, calmly, "I will be done in approximately twenty seconds and then, I will make a salad."

He says, "I will finish the hot dogs and you can make the salad because you are so much better at it than me." (KMA, you patronizing so and so.)

Internal groaning, restrained eye brow raising on my part, I immediately realized that the distraction technique was called for Because Clearly He's Not Listening. This technique works great with dogs and toddlers also.
"Please go wash your hands."

He washes his hands and low and behold, the hot dogs are done, and lookie, an assembled salad for the coach. We exchange a meaningful look.

He comes back a few minutes later and asks me what just happened. (This confirms that the Word No is a new and foreign concept to him.) Using a simple analogy because I couldn't draw him a picture, I inform him that I don't tell him what to do and when to do it, and Guess What?? You can't order me around either. Especially when I've got sharp knives and boiling water nearby. GGGRrrrrr.

Practice makes perfect as they say because I just hung up the phone with a telemarketer and I told him "No Thank you", and to PLEASE take my name off their call list before the guy could even take a breath to ask for a donation to his high overhead charity. That's also a very nice, "No".

Any Good Uses of the Word No for you lately??

"No is my final answer, not my opening bid."