outback to jungle

Musings on experiences of volunteering in Papua New Guinea with some gratuitous domestic social and public comment

Monday, July 31, 2006

when can you shhh someone?

I shhhed a group during the conference when I was trying to hear what the guest speaker was saying. I was shhhed myself the following morning at 7am. I was all apologetic to the shhshhher who told me people were still trying to sleep. Given that the banana boat was coming to pick us up at 7.45am from Motopure to take us back to Loloata for breakfast, I was in half a mind to tell the shhshher that the sleepers had better not be late and keep us waiting for them on account she considered their sleep was more important than our getting to breakfast. On the other hand I am always amazed when people interrupt my listening to ask what the speaker had just said. "So let me try to understand what you want me to do. You did not hear the important point the speaker just made? Now you want ME to miss the next important point in order to tell YOU what the last important point was? Wouldn't it be better to listen to the next important point in order that (i) we both hear it, and (ii) we don't interrupt others trying to hear, and (iii) we are not rude to the speaker?" Then there are others who are just-plain-can't-say-it any-more-kindly RUDE. They have their private discussion while the rest of the group tries to get by by raising our voices to talk over the top of them.

1 Comments:

At 11:26 AM, Blogger Naaaaath said...

Again. Were they they unruly realllly??? I thought the crowd was quite well behaved. I thought the quesitons (broadly) were poited at Ausaid sometimes, but generally (eg. Dame Carol) respectful. I thought most people, most of the time were attentive to the sessions (unless sleeping like two particular AVI's I wont mention through sections of the program)...

 

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