Why this book exists
A focused place to understand what is happening
There are two words that get said, kindly, to people who have asked you to repeat yourself twice, and they do more damage than anything else in this book. Never mind. I want to start there rather than with audiograms, because the person this book is for has heard those two words perhaps four thousand times, from people who love them, every one of whom meant it as a mercy. Here is what it is. You have missed something. You have asked once. You have asked twice. And the other person, seeing you work, not wanting to make you work again, releases you. It doesn't matter. It was nothing.
The writing is designed to reduce shame, bring the underlying pattern into view and give you practical ways to respond without pretending that every life follows the same formula.
