Having grown up with a father who worked as a labor negotiator, I learned the fine art of arguing at a young age over the dinner table. Never dreaming that he was grooming me to be an attorney, my father enjoyed verbally sparring with me. It taught me a lot about the difference between arguing for the sake of arguing and negotiating.
Often people seem more likely to argue over the smallest disputes rather than negotiate, which can be a waste of time for everyone. Taking a step back and looking at the whole picture can avoid a lot of this - unless, like in this Monty Python clip, you're looking for an argument.
Health care plans are just being presented in Washington. I hope all of us remember to differentiate between arguing and negotiating - because there's so much at stake here.
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