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Don’t Think Other People’s Thoughts

Aaron Pace
4 min readJun 21, 2024

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Photo by Brett Jordan on Unsplash

I’m a professional ruminator. No, not the kind with a multi-chambered stomach. I’m one of those people who can latch onto a thought — usually one that elicits difficult-to-deal with emotions — and hold onto it with all the intensity of a toddler holding a dirt-covered lollipop.

I excel at both pre- and post-rumination, often holding conversations with people in my head about difficult subjects long before discussing it with them, if ever.

Years ago, I was involved in the sale of a durable goods distribution company. Part of the sale was an attempt to liquidate inventory that had not sold in a long time. During much of the workday, I was busy moving inventory from one warehouse to another and helping to organize it. Later in the day, I would man the old warehouse to meet potential buyers of whatever flotsam we had left. The idea was to sell the products for whatever I could get for them.

On a particularly hot afternoon in August, a long-time customer and friend came in to buy an item that had more dust on it than Tutankhamun’s tomb. I sold it for a song — happy to be rid of it and happy to be one step closer to completing the arduous task of moving the aged-out inventory.

As it happened, my boss came over while the customer was still perusing the remnant piles. He noticed the item I’d sold in the back of…

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Aaron Pace
Aaron Pace

Written by Aaron Pace

Married to my best friend. Father to five exuberant children. Fledgling entrepreneur. Writer. Software developer. Inventory management expert.

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