The communications class this morning reminded me a bit of college: types and forms of communication, wired and wireless, open and concealed, restricted and unrestricted, body language, expressions… I was fighting to stay awake.

The class after that - sign language - was nothing like college.

I like people who don't mince their words and the instructor was blunt. ("The enemy doesn't have to see you to shoot you. It's enough that he can hear you.") He also likes cats.

And he brought a video to start the class.

Sitting towards the back, I could tell just from the way the guys watched who had cats and who didn't. The ones who didn't have cats, looked where the cat looked. The rest of us turned our heads to where the cat turned her ears. And guess where the mouse was…

We all agreed that cats are great for demonstranting the merits of concealed communication. And learning sign language after that made a lot more sense.

There's a difference between just doing something because you're told to, and doing something because you know why.

In this case, the difference was total silence at lunch while we all tried to use the signs we'd just learned to have a conversation. Laughing without making a sound—and without spilling your lunch down your uniform jacket—is fun too.