Blowhards

Some people just love to toot their own horns, controlling the conversation, showing off their superior knowledge, and making free with their stubbornly held opinions. There's one in my Ryerson Life Institute course this term. The instructor had just introduced himself and started in on the topic when the buzzard in the front row started interrupting him with comments and questions. After ten minutes I was beginning to wonder whether I would make it through eight classes. Then came deliverance. "Excuse me!" one of my classmates broke in. "I came here to listen to the instructor. If you want to have a conversation, I'd be happy to talk with you during the break". And that was that. Later on I thanked her for performing a community service. She told me she had been a teacher for over twenty years, and had dealt with that problem many times in her classroom. I'd like to imagine that for every old blowhard, there's a poised, grown-up senior whose life experience has given her the confidence to speak out and make the right things happen. I'm not there yet myself, but I'm working on it.