Recently I had the opportunity to practice spontaneous negotiation during my annual fishing trip to Alaska. It seems that a local and I had been planning to fish the same stretch of river at the same time. While sure of my legal position, thanks to the valid fishing license on my person, I felt compelled to examine the nonlegal and noncommercial factors after seeing him stand, stare and establish his 7 1/2-foot Alaskan brown bearhood. Though I was across the river and 40 feet away, we communicated perfectly.

It is a tribute to my negotiating skills that the entire process took place without verbal communication, unless you count the subsonic sounds of quivering and my initial "Oh [expletive]!" In a matter of seconds we moved past the fishing-on-the-river claim and on to my survival.