Why do people feel the need to air themselves out in public? On a shuttle bus from the airport terminal to the parking lot, I heard most everything I really didn’t want to know about what happened to a woman on a her recent trip to meet relatives. Her partner to whom she was speaking was rather bored. I think I might have also heard a hint of embarrassment when he replied to her questions or grunted an acknowledgment. She was the only person on the whole shuttle who felt the need to speak with her loudest voice. It wasn’t as if the noise from the shuttle was overwhelming. No one else was speaking. Probably because we were all just tired from our trip. Even so, I would still consider a shuttle to be public space.
There are people who do what I unwillingly did on that shuttle bus. They’re called families. Friends. Therapists. Tell it to them. Not me! They’re sympathetic for a reason. They either have to be or because they’re paid to be. I’m neither of those.
Addendum to strikeouts:
- They want to be helpful and can help or they’re professionals who provides a voluntary service. We, your fellow passengers in life, have our own stories to tell, but we don’t indiscriminately tell it to everyone. We’re asked our stories and then we choose to tell or keep to ourselves. And no, I have not been inundated with e-mails by the PC police to change my statement. I had a genuine change of mind.
Note: I have on occasions been known to speak a bit above normal tone, but only because I’m telling hilariously funny stories. It ruins a comedic moment if you can’t be a little boisterous with the voice box. I can’t say I’m any different when it comes to condemning this woman. I can admit hypocrisy. Henceforth, being aware of this now, I’ll keep my voice down when telling my bawdy tales, but it’s not nearly as funny when your audience keeps having to ask you to speak up.