Thursday, September 01, 2011

On knowing when to shut up

"It's very important in life to know when to shut up. You should not be afraid of silence."
Alex Trebek
I've always liked Alex Trebek. And who wouldn't? The longtime host of Jeopardy - and wannabe-thief-catcher - is Canadian (well, he was, once), he answers his questions with a question, and he gives away lots of money to smart people every day.

After seeing this quote, I like him even more.

(And being the Canadian that I am, I'll apologize for the ever-so-slightly-edgy title of this entry. Goosing the Google algorithm makes my heart race.)

Your turn: How do you deal with folks who don't know when to turn it off?

3 comments:

Kalei's Best Friend said...

Carmi, I use to try to reason w/folks who didn't know when to shut up.. I have learned its not worth wasting my breath.. I walk away...simple as that...

Max Sartin said...

Simple - I send them to another classroom, preferably one with kids from a different grade so they'll have no one to talk to.

Little Nell said...

They are usually well-meaning types but are not very good listeners so it’s not worth trying to reason with them. I try to only see them in small doses as a little goes a long way. What really annoys me is when people start talking over you. You can be mid-sentence and they chime in with something - often irrelevant.