I'd love to be a 'fly on the wall' at the Alabama delegation.

[trof]

I know one of the delegates well.
We've both been involved in the same Democratic political endeavors.
And she is one of those people that you preface your remarks about with "Bless her heart...".

If you're from the South, you understand.
If not, google it.
;-)

She is sweet and well meaning, if not particularly effective or organized.
And every single time she gets the floor at a meeting she begins "I just want to say a few words."
You can make book on her use of this phrase.

And then we're off!
Stream of consciousness, off on tangents to the original point and then tangents to the tangents, and parenthetical asides that run to several...um...paragraphs.

"On the other hand...", "However, if...", "But if we do this, then...", "I know most people think (this), but what if it's actually (that)...?"

After 10 minutes you start checking your watch.
After 15, you check it, look at it in disbelief, and shake it near your ear.
OK, it's battery powered, but you're trying to make a point here.
She. Is. Oblivious.

Once I made the mistake of trying to cut to bottom line.
"Frieda? Could you just tell us what it is you want us to do?"
She dropped her head and began to cry.
"I'm sorry...I'm sorry. I'm just trying to get my thoughts organized. Let me start over."
Oh. God.
I felt like a complete shit and she got the clock started all over again and we sat through another 15 minutes of her ramblings.

I have no idea how she got to be part of the delegation.
And I wish I could see how they are dealing with it.

I know. I'm a shit.
:-(

[grannie4peace]

1. yeah

:spank:

[trof]

8. OW!

That smarts.
;-)

[DJ13]

2. She sounds like my sister in law

Im a shit too.

:hi:

[Duppers]

3. No, you're not a shit!

I know the type. Uck.

I'll forward this to 'our' Ava who is with the AL delegation.

[trof]

6. OK, I didn't name names.

But it will be interesting to see if she knows who it is.

[eshfemme]

4. I know what you mean. It's hard to gently cut them off without hurting their feelings.

The one time I did successfully stop a long meandering ramble was to say, "I understand your concerns but we have a limited amount of time here and there are people waiting to have their say too. So could you please wrap it up? Thanks." But then again, I was doing a Q&A presentation so... a bit different.

[trof]

10. We made a rule in our local Democratic club. A promise, really.

NO MEETING WILL RUN OVER ONE HOUR!
PERIOD!

If you can't get done what you need to do in an hour, you're starting to bullshit and gossip.

AFTER the meeting is adjourned you're welcome to hang around and bullshit for as long as you want.

Sometimes I hang around and bullshit.
Sometimes I have somewhere else I need/want to be.

[eleny]

5. McCain is such a fuckwad, bless his heart

Works for me.

[trof]

7. Yeah, you understand.

[LisaM]

9. I know the type

They come to public events, and then when Q&A time comes, get in line to supposedly ask a question and start it with a ten-minute statement - I've seen this. People start yelling out, "ask your question!" and the person will stop, and then make another 5-minute speech.

[trof]

11. Bingo.

[moriah]

12. "Bless your heart...."

... :)

One demonstration about the way the phrase is used in the South was in Ann Rule's book about Ted Bundy.

The judge in the trial in Florida was one of those who used "Bless your heart" when he really wanted to say something much less complimentary.