ABSTRACT
At Elouise, I had to discharge some oldtimers w h o weren't do ing their work. A n d one of them got angry enough to come in my office and say: " You ' r e a dirty bastard . " I sa id, " Y o u are quite mistaken, I'm a dirty b loody bastard of a . . . " " N o , " he said, " Y o u are a dirty son of a b i t c h . " " I 'm a dirty, b loody son of a bitch of a bastard . " A n d he couldn ' t think of any way to improve on that, [pause] So subsequently, new attendants were encouraged to come to my office and insult me. So I a lways improved their insults, (p. 118)
N o w in Erickson's rendit ion, that portion about commun ica t ion behaviors is immediately preceded by this next bit about Ami l ' s wi fe . A n d remember that these things are being connected by association with the ideas that he has just stimulated with those specifics about how to quarrel and stand up for oneself, albeit in an unusual way.
