Frank the Diplomat

Diplomacy isn't just for diplomats. Why, I bet we could get on a lot easier in life day in and day out with a little more tact in our own everyday affairs.

I explain this with one example in mind. A few years ago my son Frank and I drove to Pittsburgh to see both the Tigers and PNC Park, where the Pirates play. It was raining buckets for most of the trip. The folks in Detroit will remember it as the day the west side flooded. Local drives which should have taken twenty-five minutes took three hours or more. The rain was that heavy and constant over many hours.

So perhaps we should not have been driving to western Pennsylvania, as the rain was like that all over the middle west. Instead, I kept on keeping on. We already had our tickets, and who knows what could be done if we didn't make the game that day. Yet the volume and intensity of rain was a concern for my son.

Still, Frank didn't make a big deal of it. Rather he at one point opined matter of factly, "You know Dad, I wouldn't think any less of you if you wanted to pull over for a while."

I think I actually chuckled a bit. He made his point without being shrill or demanding. In fact, I believe he was properly considerate of his old man.

And that's how diplomacy should work. Everyone should employ it.

I don't actually remember if I pulled over though. But I think I did. For a short while, anyway.