I don’t think I will be invited back.
You need to understand the environment.
Location: Prestigious College Paleontology Lab
Attendees: Lab curator, numerous professors, and a total of about 20 other people from across the USA with two-thirds of the group retired.
Other than the curator and the professors, everyone else was a volunteer. The make-up of the volunteers was a mix of some wanna-be professors, a few other academia types, the typical know it all’s, and some downright great people.
We were all working on our field jackets, basically a plaster cast containing an artifact. The lab benches were large with six people to a work bench. The conversation was going as always with people trying to impress and demonstrate their knowledge about all things big and small. I typically remain quiet when others launch into these conversations as I find it fun to listen to the stupidity. One retired professor and two wanna be professors were dominating the conversation. My stomach was beginning to churn.
I was using a set of specialized headphones to minimize the noise from the vacuum used while cutting the jackets open. These headphones allow you to hear normal conversations while blocking the vacuum. Joan can relate to me using headphones and then hollering when I talk. This time was no exception. Just ask Joan about the incident in the theater.
Somehow they started talking about Bin Laden and then terrorists. The retired professor declared the terrorists were no longer a threat. I put my work tools down and leaned back in my chair. As an individual that was deeply affected by the terrorists I was tempted to attack but I bit my tongue. The wanna be’s readily agreed. Then the professor declared how stupid the terrorists were because they wear suicide bombs. He demonstrated his point by saying, “Why would anyone listen to someone that has no experience tell them what to do?”
Pops couldn't hold his tongue any longer. Forgetting I had my headphones on I declared in a rather loud voice, “Sort of like being taught business and ethics in today’s colleges by people that have no business experience.”
My declaration was heard throughout the lab.
Nobody has talked to me for hours.
Except the lady from Mississippi, the young girl from California, and the couple from Texas. In the hallway they allowed as it was about time somebody stuck a fork in ‘em. At least someone got a good laugh because I blurted out my true feelings.
I don’t think I will be invited back.