Yesterday, I had a magical experience scuba diving the reef at La Parguera. It was gorgeous and the dive company generally did a great job on safety and running the boat.

On the other hand, not everything was peachy. I couldn’t tell what one of the guides’ hand signals meant and assumed we were doing a safety stop, so he gave me the signal to head back to the boat.

When he came out of the water, I heard him refer to me as a “cabron” or idiot to his colleague. I wonder how many times he’s made the same mistake… Assuming because someone isn’t as experienced as his over 10,000 dives completed and not as comfortable managing full time Spanish… that he can make foolish insults in their presence without being understood.

I’d be willing to bet several people did understand over the years and chose not to say how annoying his behavior is.

Always remember: Don’t be a “cabron” and underestimate other people. They will surprise you.

For example: I remember how I spent every day at one job walking past the receptionist. One day while talking, I suggested that she too could handle software engineering. That it wasn’t that hard to learn despite what everyone said. Today, she’s a highly successful, independent software engineer.

How many engineers had walked past her and assumed that “receptionist” was an identity or her fate rather than just one temporary job that made sense in her current place in life?