I was at a church meeting last night.  It wasn’t a long meeting, but it had been a long day and because of a potluck supper, the meeting hadn’t started until a little after 8:00. 

The “pastor’s report” was the last item on the agenda, and he didn’t get started on that until around 8:40.  Around 8:45, one of the more “outspoken” members interrupted the pastor mid-sentence and said loudly, “Is the meeting over?  I’m tired and want to go home!”

Nervous laugher.  That remark and interruption certainly crossed the boundary between politeness and rudeness.  I was stunned that someone would be so obnoxious in the middle of a church meeting. She could have just slipped out of the meeting quietly, but instead she chose to make a scene about it.

The pastor said sternly, “This meeting isn’t over until I say it’s over!”

Pause. As someone who hates conflict, my heart was pounding.  I sure didn’t want to be in the middle of a confrontation.

Then the pastor said, “It’s over.”

Relieved laughter followed.  The pastor had handled the situation perfectly.  He diffused the anxiety.  The meeting broke up, and we all gathered our notes and the dishes from the dinner and went home.

I wonder if the rude person realizes how obnoxious and disrespectful she was?  She sat directly across the table from RT and me, and earlier in the meeting she had made several other negative remarks out loud and under her breath.  RT and I were discussing it on the way home.  I told him that she’d probably end up being one of those church members who gets upset about some little non-issue and leaves the church.  Time will tell.

This entry was posted on Thursday, January 25th, 2007 at 6:08 am and is filed under Humor. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.