1. Nameplate
“Who am I kidding?” I said.
He said he had a nameplate with my name on it. Something from years ago. He said I could come get it whenever I wanted. I said I would. But then…
“Who am I kidding?” I said. “What on earth will I do with it? Can you just toss it?”
“Will do,” he said. “That’s very funny!”
2. Gotta Go
“I gotta go in five minutes,” he said just after I introduced myself.
The meeting was delayed, and he evidently needed to be somewhere else. In five minutes, he stood up and slung his pack over his shoulder.
“I gotta go,” he said. “I’m just a third-tier backup. I won’t be missed.”
He was right.
3. Moving Fast
“I’d like to see things slow down a bit,” he said.
I chuckled and said, “I need to write that down.”