The pregnant pause

During his career, the curmudgeon ran into a lot of colorful sorts.


Steve Patchell was a Mainer, and, thus, a man of few words.  His job was in Chicago, and if the curmudgeon's 250,000 United miles of flying back and forth is any indicator, we worked closely together.


He was the master of the pregnant pause.  It is a remarkable business tactic.  My own boss at the time, a very smart guy from Bell Labs, was a loquacious sort, and always wanted to be in charge of any conversation.


On our many conference calls with Steve, Steve would go quiet at times and my boss would always leap into the lurch to fill the quiet time.  Then Steve would quietly come back with a comment that usually resolved matters.


Those Mainers.