Never Let ‘Em See You Sweat

There is an old deodorant commercial that used the slogan, “Never let ‘em see you sweat.” The premise behind the advertising campaign was that in the rough-and-tumble business world, sweating was a sure sign of defeat. If you were involved in heavy business negotiations, and the opposition saw that you were perspiring, they would somehow realize that they had gotten to you. Now, they could move in for the kill. This premise went beyond television commercials and has been consistently repeated in movies as well. The confident “good guy” never sweats. In fact, those who sweat have traditionally been depicted as weak, frightened, lying, and on the verge of collapse. Yet, we both vividly remember times where the pressure of dealing with a difficult parent made us sweat and was really difficult to handle.