Wandering Along the Path: Right Speech

I've just had a nice getaway with a friend, looking at art with a Road Scholar program.  Lots of right speech from others in the group and between my friend and I, and a smattering of wrong speech noticed and noted.  There was one individual who, as my friend said, didn't have her filters, and she was inappropriately interrupting and drawing attention to herself and criticizing others.  My friend and I just tried to give her a wide berth, but without obviously avoiding her.  The last dinner together she announced I didn't look Indian, and I replied she must have not gone to many powwows, and she insisted she knew what an Indian looked like because her brother-in-law was Indian.  I told her if it felt better to her she didn't have to believe I was Indian.  Then she proceeded to tell me all about Indians of the Northeast, and I listened politely until the subject was changed.

Why engage?  We're all seniors, and I'm not going to change her options or behavior.  I decided to think it was funny.  But she was one of 17 people, so really, what did it matter?  Clearly, she was desperate to hog the attention, and somehow managed to corral one of the group to push her wheelchair at each and every museum.  I felt sorry for the kindhearted woman, but she said it was fine.  What should have happened, in my opinion, was that our group leader asked each of us to do an hour so that nobody bore the responsibility that was not part of the program.  But I stayed out of it, and had a drink with the "pusher " several times when we returned from a museum when she asked. 

Another woman decided to be an expert lecturer, even though we had professors give us talks and docent us through museums.  I felt irritation arising, and judgment, but I worked to keep letting it go.  And I admit, she had some interesting things to say, it was just fatiguing to sit there for  the regular lecturers and then listen to her two cents as well.  

But my own behavior is my only business, and I handled the minor irritations without flaming anything up into strong reactions or feelings.  I give me a B.