January 5, 2024
Took my Kindle Scribe to the breakfast nook at the hotel to get some work done, but that did not happen. It was just before 7:00 a.m., a time when travelers are living in their own sleepy heads, quiet, and getting their day arranged in their collective mind. That's usually a great time to be in a public space.
In waddles a large woman using a walker to support herself, a grandmother with two small children and a son-in-law in tow. Her presence was preceded by her booming voice coming down the corridor issuing both instructions and admonitions to the children and to the son-in-law. She continued to use her outside voice after she emerged into the dining area. The son-in-law was silent and remained quiet the whole time, softly walking behind his family in a pair of old slippers.
The children were everywhere, much to the consternation of the grandmother. She alternated between yelling at the children from across the room in the food service area, while being politely solicitous of her son-in-law; but still she used her outside voice, maybe two or three notches of volume lower towards him, but she certainly used a gentler tone.
Just when I thought things would settle down and I could get back to work, she took a call directly on her phone’s speaker, blaring the caller's morning greetings throughout the common space. I had to leave. Too early for a circus and there was no way that I could concentrate.
This was a time to assess the controllables. She had them all. My first impression was this woman likes drama and likes to be at the center of ever one's attention. Yet, on reflection I deduce that she may not even be aware of the other people in the room, not cognizant of their sensibilities. She was not trying to apprehend our attention, to take possession of it. She was just being her unexamined self. I took my stuff and went back to the room; my indignation meter having barely ticked up.
