mmMMMMMMmmmmm!!!!

I was waiting for an appointment yesterday.  As a retiree, you get good at waiting.  Time or money.  Well, I have time.

One of the office minions offered me a cup of coffee, which I gratefully accepted since I was two cups short of my consumption curve.

I took a sip and was amazed.

I understand why some bloggers prattle on about this coffee or that coffee.

Counselors

For reasons that are not important, I have had the privilege of sitting in on assorted counselors of various flavors as they went about their jobs.

One highly rated counselor relied on silence:  Silence and a finely honed, non-judgmental "hmm!"

The "hmm" was much more than is captured by the characters.  It started out as mild surprise, transitioned to exceeded-expectations as the baritone timbre deepened, dwelt on savor and then fanned out into appreciation for the complexity and ended with a prolonged pondering of nuance.

The person being counseled would proceed to spill their guts.  Just that sound (not even a word), "hmm" unlocked them.

Until yesterday, I was unable to replicate that sound.

And then I heard it again.  In that hallway, as the slurp of coffee rolled and coiled about my palate.  I heard it.  I was making it.

In retrospect, the counselor was drinking coffee during those sessions.  I wonder.....did he really have to spend 8 years in college to learn when to take sips of fine Colombian coffee?