I appreciate your honesty and I think my mom would, too. She respects you a lot so I think she would be very understanding if you address this concern directly with her. If you prefer to call her, her phone number is [...]. (She's out of town until Wed. though.)
That said, if you think that it might be more of a benefit to the group to ensure that no one person in general would "dominate" a discussion, maybe--and I don't know if it's worth proposing to [friend's name] because she is the book club coordinator?--at the top of the next meeting we could take a few minutes to decide as a group on a few rules that might help everyone be more at ease.
Just my thoughts.
UPDATE (9:27 p.m.): I've been avoiding my e-mail since I sent it, but about an hour after I replied, Leona sent the response below. . . my comments in bold.
Ok. Let's try your idea [I assume she means my brilliant "save it for group" idea]. I don't know her well enough to say anything [uh, TO HER FACE, anyway!] and would not want to hurt her feelings ["at least not directly which was why I was trying to foist it off on her daughter"].
Let's see how it goes. It should be fun [on what planet is creating rules to prevent people talking too much FUN!?]. Thx [she doesn't mean that, either].
She was probably shooting daggers with her eyes at the screen while she was typing that.
Well, then, I am just going to let this marinate among her and whoever constitutes the "we" of her previous ignorant e-mail, and see what happens at the next meeting. (I've got you all on the hook for that, now, don't I?) It's not until the end of AUGUST. And you may recall that my mom (she of the five plus sentences) is hosting.
Oh, can they really keep it contained for that long?
Stay tuned, kiddies.
7 comments:
Oh, very nice! Well done.
You're good at this grown-up stuff, aren't you? I wish I was. Oh well, can't have everything.
Man, you're WAY nicer than I wanted to be. I was ready to fly out there and start kicking some shins!
CCR--It takes a lot of practice. (Practice at stuffing down your rage, that is.)
Lizzie--Hahahahaha. In my fantasy, I will be kicking the shins of ANYONE who says more than four sentences OR talks for more than one minute (according to the HOURGLASS)!
In my fantasy, before every meeting there would be a solemn ceremony where the positions of The Holder of the Hourglass and The Counter of the Sentences are appointed and charged with their duties.
The Holder of the Hourglass would then turn to Miss Busy-body, raise said Hourglass, and vow to defend The Hourglass from all who would meddle with her duties as turner of the Hourglass. She would then raise her other hand to show the hourglass-shaped dagger used to prick any who doth stare too long at or question the authority of the Hourglass.
The Counter of the Sentences would then turn to Busy-body and vow to count to four, only to four, and break up any run-on sentences as appropriate. She would then brandish the gilded Ruler of Compliance that she will use to whack any who doth dare to speak beyond four sentences.
After a moment to contemplate their positions of responsibility, the meeting could then begin.
Best Book Club Fantasy EVER!
I, too, am awestruck by your tactful and restrained response. Perhaps you could give classes; sign me up!
C.Allen--welcome and thanks for commenting! Oh, you flatter me; you, too, can handle emotional idiots. . . just deal with enough of them and it's not hard to figure out. They tend to stick to the same M.O. every time.
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