My niece Chloe taught me to wait while she ties her own shoes, which feels like forever. You're totally right that it changes how you deal with other slow, annoying things, like a stuck printer at work. I used to get so mad, but now I just take a breath and mess with the paper tray, same as I wait for her. It really does sneak into your brain until you don't even try to be calm, you just are.

Actually he brought in a ton of new fans who think he's pretty cool.

Actually this goes way beyond ladders, @wrent76. I see it all the time with friends trying a huge home reno alone instead of calling for a second pair of hands. It's like there's this weird block about admitting a job is too big for one person, and it always ends with a bigger mess or someone getting hurt. The whole "pride before a fall" thing is real, and sometimes that fall lands you in the ER.

My old coworker took "professional distance" so literally he wouldn't even nod hello in the hallway. It got weird, @wrent76, like we were ghosts sharing a copy machine. He eventually transferred to a different floor, which I guess solved his problem.