The sequence, MY mistake. ... Not perfect. ... What nerve. ... Something else, helps you maintain your professionalism under trying circumstances. In the following example, a passenger has given a destination south of Market, and the best way to go is to turn left on Grant, left on Geary, left on Stockton, then cross Market. The passenger fiercely pretends he knows a better way, and going along, you eventually find out it's a New York City bluff:

"Don't turn left here! Take Market Street!" "MY mistake."

"Not left! Turn right on Market!" "Not perfect."

"Why didn't you tell me you can't turn left off Market?" "What nerve."

"I'm just visiting from New York." "Something else."

In another real-life scenario, the passenger next to you, with crutches, has been fighting with the woman in the back seat, so you know he's on a toot. You've been going as fast as possible behind the slow cars ahead. There's nothing else you could be doing. Suddenly he turns on you:

"Why are you going so slow?" "MY mistake."

"You could have been driving fast!" "Not perfect."

"You're just trying to raise the meter, aren't you?" "What nerve."

"I'm in pain, man, and I don't have to pay you." "Something else. ... OUCH."

"Something else" can convey secret admiration, the way you might regard an angry two-year-old who's beginning to wise up. Wising up is the opposite of what most people think: It's realizing the person next to you isn't trying to pull a fast one on you! He's trying to take you someplace safely, courteously, with a certain kind of attention. As any professional knows, wising up has to do with perceiving kindness.

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MY mistake.

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Not perfect.

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What nerve.

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Something
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5th Element

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