When Body Language Goes bad

Sometimes you can say what you mean best by saying nothing at all. Sometimes saying nothing is the best thing you can do.

Me, I have verbal diarrhea. I can rarely keep my mouth shut about anything. Sometimes even I am surprised at the things that come out of my mouth. The good and the bad.

Poor Chuck got dressed down for talking smack. He's like me sometimes. If they want to talk trash he'll give it right back to them. Sometimes you can get away with it and sometimes you can't. Tonight he couldn't and got called on the carpet for it.

So he was determined to say as little as possible. He made paucity the best policy (look that up in your old Funk and Wagnalls!) and kept his mouth shut for most of the evening. hell, it was all I could do to make him talk to me!

We were out on the rec yard and had a couple of young hard as* gangster wanna-be's out there. We went down to put on back in the cage and let another one out. As Chuck was locking the one back in the cage he said "Hey C.O. You don't wanna walk up on me like that man! You don't want none of this!" (This big talk from a nineteen year old kid who weighs maybe 120 pounds) Chuck just looked at him quietly for a second, then turned his back and Rrrrrrrrrrrip! Let one fly as he walked away.

It was elegant and eloquent and elemental. And I almost fell down laughing before I could get back to my chair. Put the kid right in his place without uttering a word.

And I don't think that kid had anything else to say after that.