Princeton, Texas
Clear Lake Park
Weather Condition; High 89 Low 70, Sunny
I’ve always admired people that had a good listener’s ear. I’ve often wished
I could be a good listener instead of a talker. I’m finding with age, that I’m
a better listener.
Dawn is one of those people that is a good listener. That is one of the
great traits she inherited from her mother. For more than twenty years Dawn has
listened to me run my non-stop mouth. She has watched me put my foot in my
mouth on many occasions because of my non-stop mouth.
I don’t talk near as much as I did when I was younger and thought I
knew everything. That was back in the day when I really thought everyone wanted
to hear all about me because that was what it was all about! My jaws could flap
from the time I got up until I went to bed. It occurred to me one day that even
though I was talking all day, nothing I said was of any importance! I must have
driven everyone around me CRAZY!
As I stated earlier, I’m getting somewhat better with age.
Now days, Dawn talks almost as much as I do. She says that’s only
because now she has more of a chance!
A major difference is that now days I’m more apt to speak my mind. I’m
not sure if that’s a good thing.
Here’s an example;
Dawn and I stopped into a local restaurant the other day for some
lunch. It was a little after noon on a Wednesday and there was a line to order.
We patiently stood in line and placed our order. The small restaurant
was crowded and the noise was loud.
After placing our order we found a table in the corner of the
restaurant. The noise intensified and people were looking around. I stood and
looked over a divider wall behind me and across the restaurant were five women
setting at a table and beside them were two booth full of children ( at least
8) The oldest child looked to be five or six.
These women had placed their children in the two booths and were
sitting almost with their backs to them as they talked.
These children were climbing over the tables, under the tables and
jumping up and down on the hard booth seats.
Dawn and I sat in the corner trying to talk and enjoy our meal but it
was almost impossible. The noise was so loud. The noise was not just from the
children but from the mother’s as well.
These women were talking over the noise of the children. Across the
restaurant we could hear the entire conversations these five women were having.
No one else in the place was talking; they were just watching these
children and the mother’s that were ignoring them.
Several times I stood to look over the divider wall to see what the
children were screaming and yelling about. Dawn told me to sit down and eat my
lunch.
I did as told.
We finished our meal and I went to get a refill on my drink and could
not pass up the opportunity.
I walked over to the table were the mothers were sitting and leaned
over and told them, this is a perfect opportunity to teach their children how
to behave in public.
Boy, did I get some strange looks! One mother told me that she was
sorry if their children offended me. She said, they’re just children.
I told her that her children didn’t offend me. What DID offend me was
that fact that they were talking so loudly to each other so to be heard over
their children. I then said that everyone in the restaurant could hear their
entire conversation and that no one else in the place was able to have a
conversation because they were talking so loud.
They looked at me as if I were some scary being from another planet.
I smiled and walked to the counter to get my drink refill. I noticed
the manager standing on the other side of the counter looking as if she was on
the verge of exploding.
While at the counter one of the children ran past me to the self-serve ice
cream machine and stuck his figure into the spigot of the machine. He had his figure
stuck as far as he could get it. His mother told him he needed a cone and didn’t
bother to tell him not to touch the spigot. I decided not to have my usual cone
before leaving!
Dawn and I were shocked at the behavior of the children, but even more
shocked by the behavior of their mothers.
We just can’t understand why these women thought that any of this was appropriate
behavior in public.
I would have been so embarrassed if my children even looked as if they
were going to get loud or act up in a restaurant. I would have been more embarrassed if someone
approached me to tell me I was being loud.
Maybe it’s just me!