Too Early for a Drink

Well, I missed my train in Scotland, but my wife and kids didn’t. Guess I’ll write to you guys in my newfound four hours free.

Also, didn’t realize this failed to send last week! Gotta figure out a way to make it up to you guys 😉

⚡️ F5 Fast Files - Short Summary

📣 It’s official — the “Captain of My Soul” retreat is locked in for March 4–6, 2027, at Zion Red Rock Villa just outside the park. Three days, 50 men, with Food and Lodging included! Early bird pricing is live now.

🗣️ The Accent

Here in the UK I’ve caught myself immitating the accent of wherever I am. Vowels soften, word selection changes a little.

A guy from Newcastle struck up a conversation with us on a walk and when he found out I was American, he said he was surprised — most Americans he’s met, missionaries included, have a much “harder” accent. Mine, apparently, came out smooth.

I’ve always found dialects fascinating, honestly. On my mission, hearing Spanish shift between Argentina, Spain, Mexico, Colombia, Cuba — same language, completely different flavor depending on who’s speaking it.

But that comment from the guy in Newcastle stuck with me. Was I just adapting? Or was I quietly hiding who I actually am to make people more comfortable?

🧩 The Interpreter

Here’s the case for the defense: adapting how you speak isn’t automatically a cover-up. Sometimes it’s useful skill.

Five years ago, interviewing for my current job, I didn’t pitch myself as a developer. I pitched myself as an interpreter — someone who could take what engineers and analysts were saying and translate it into language executives and stakeholders actually cared about. That’s been true of the job ever since. Reading a room, speaking its language, helping people understand or feel at ease around you — that’s not fake. That’s a real skill, and a useful one.

So maybe the accent thing is just more of the same. Maybe it’s fine.

🍹 When It’s Not “Blending”

Hayley and I went to Jamaica for our honeymoon, staying at an all-inclusive resort where almost everyone was older than us and drinking most of the day.

A bartender bringing us food asked if he could get us a drink. I ordered a virgin something (without alcohol) and he looked genuinely confused “what do you mean, no alcohol?” Instead of just saying “I don’t drink,” I said, “Nah, too early in the day for that.”

It happened again. And again. The whole trip, I never once gave the real answer. Always some lighthearted excuse instead.

That’s not the same as softening an accent. That’s dodging a question about what I actually believe, specifically so nobody would look at me differently, or ask what my religion was, or push back. I wasn’t adapting. I was hiding.

👑 Daniel’s Diplomacy

There’s a moment in the Book of Daniel where he and his friends are taken into the king of Babylon’s court and offered the king’s own food and wine — rich stuff, a mark of status and belonging in that court.

“But Daniel purposed in his heart that he would not defile himself with the portion of the king’s meat, nor with the wine which he drank: therefore he requested of the prince of the eunuchs that he might not defile himself.” (Daniel 1:8)

Notice what he didn’t do. He didn’t make a scene. He didn’t refuse in some obstinate, confrontational way. He requested — he proposed a ten-day trial on vegetables and water, and let the results speak for him. Diplomatic. Respectful. And completely unmoved on what actually mattered.

That’s the difference. The accent, the interpreting, reading a room — none of that’s the problem. The problem is the moment you use those same tactics to hide. Tact is just how you say it, not a reason to stand down.

When it costs you something to say the true thing, do you still say it?

Blend into the crowd on the train, and you’ll end up wherever it’s going. Don’t be afraid to stand out.

Justin

F5 Brotherhood

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