Sometimes, at Town Meeting, there’s a woman who gets up to speak and just goes on and on. And on. When we’ve all had enough, when she pauses to take a breath, the audience spontaneously bursts into applause. Startled, she stops, which gives the Moderator a chance to retake his meeting. She’s the only one we clap for.
I went to a meeting last week. I was the only “regular” person in the room. Everyone else, although many of them were partly “regular,” all had on a different hat, too — somehow, each of them worked for the people hosting the meeting. And the purpose of the meeting was to solicit the opinions of “regular” people. It was supposed to be a “conversation.”
I don’t do “conversations.” So I thought about what I wanted to say, wrote it down, and showed up.
After a few minutes of delicate comments from around the room, I raised my hand. After a few more delicate comments, the facilitator called on me. I spoke for 2 minutes and 15 seconds. When I finished, I paused to take a breath; the whole room erupted with thunderous applause. I was the only one they clapped for all night.
Driving home, I wondered if they were trying to shut me up. Or, if I said what everyone else in the room couldn’t say because those other hats were in their way.
This has happened to me before.
Ben
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