How to tell when you are speaking to an adult, of any age.

Long ago, in a former life, I was hunting with a buddy in South Carolina.  We were hunting deer on the property of a hunt club he belonged to.... and there wasn't another soul within miles.

Tom wanted to collect his tower stand and move it from one bean field to another, and I was amenable.  

At the time, I was driving a great big 4x4 suburban up on 10.50 tires.  A real beastie... arr.... arrr.....arrr.

He was giving directions around a field, when I realized the patch he wanted me to drive through was mud. Lot's of mud.  I stopped.  I got out.  I walked up to that massive mud patch and looked around.  I got back in the truck.

"Nope".

He urged, but I presented him two options.  One, we drive through with no issues and collect his stand.  Two, we attempt to drive through, but get stuck in the axle deep mud.

Me: "Can we carry out your stand to this spot?"

Him:  "Sure, but it will be a bitch!"

Me: "Can we push this truck out of that mud bog if we get stuck?"

Him: "Probably not.... but we won't get stuck!  Just gun it through the mud!"

Me: "What if you are wrong?  What is your plan for if you are wrong?"

That's an example of adulting.  Understanding that one might be wrong, and having a plan for being wrong, as well as right.

I like to ask people what their plan is in case they are wrong. It sets the adults apart from the children.

Immature people don't like being faced with the possibility of being wrong. What I now call 'dangerously immature' people will fight to criminalize even the suggestion they might be wrong.

(In the end, we carried that stand out by hand.... cursing and laughing the entire way).