Twenty-one folks wrote me about my MotorMouth blog. Here's a sample plus a startling poem by Ellaraine Lockie and a confessional essay by a real Motor Mouth a. k. a. Therese Guy. Enjoy!
Laugh of the day! Lisa Pelto LOVE it!!!!! Muffy Vrana
SHUT THE FRONT DOOR! Judy Greff
Ha! You're telling me! My husband is a professor and quizzes me all the time...arg! No spacing off! Sally Deskins
I told my kid the same thing. He would talk all the way through a three hour car trip to Grandma's. Exhausted I finally said--"You can talk but I'm not going to listen."
He smiled, said, "Okay, Mommy," and kept going. Barbara Schmitz
You open a can of worms each time you write something. Gummy worms, delightful to the taste. Therese Guy
I gather those talkers, too. I married one. And, yes, I tune him out. When I can't stand any more I go to my reading chair and pick up my book. He will leave me alone for awhile, but invariably will come in later with something fascinating he has to tell me. I look up, nod my head, maybe say, "uh-huh," and go back to my reading. But he's a husband of 42 years and I don't have to be so polite.
It's when we are with other people that I go insane with Bill's talking, hearing the same stories for the thousandth time. I'm trapped there, can't grab a book because I have to be polite. With the couple we spent Saturday nights with for so many years I insisted we play cards to keep Bill occupied and from yakking non-stop. It helped. Kay Golden
[Motormouths] can be double edged. The best part is you don't have to hold up your end of the conversation, since they are doing that for both of you and all you have to do is nod now and then. BUT, once in a while you get caught, have to answer a question or supply a comment and you have not a clue as to what they were talking about. 1. Because you were not listening. 2. Have no idea who they are talking about. 3. You don't really give a dam about what they are talking about. Marsha Stribley
Hee-Haw! Hey! I'm about to get very motor-mouthed on paper. However, the nice thing is, when your attention wanders, you can quit reading and come back to it later. :<) Carla Barber
Don't you hate going to get your hair cut bc the hairdresser chats the whole time, or when the dentist talks to you? ;) Sally Deskins
What I Carry Home to the Grandsons
Holding the disability preboard card
I say to the flight attendant
who will lift my luggage
First I need the neck brace and ostrich egg
from my carry-on
The cheerleader type in the next seat
can't wait to ask about my disability
I read out loud the ingredients on a Nutridel
cookie package in my other hand
Oats, whole wheat flour, wheat bran
sunflower seeds, dry coconut, sesame seeds
molasses, sunflower oil
All in the right order
for optimal health I say
Then I show her the bodies in my purse
A shriveled baby rattlesnake dented from a tire
A prairie dog's jawbone with perfect teeth
The only remains from my grandfather I tell her
An intact mouse skeleton found
in the wall of the Montana cabin
A home-stuffed rabbit's foot
She says nothing for the rest
of the flight to California
Just checks her watch
I read in the peace of what
a deaf person might hear
--Ellaraine Lockie
Motor Mouth
By Therese Guy
My friend posted a very funny and interesting post this week about how she attracts motor mouths as friends. I must say I would have to put myself in the chatterbox category of personalities. My brother use to taunt me with,
"Therese when you open your mouth your whole body disappears."
If I were quiet as a child my mother would immediately take my temperature, cause if I was not talking--I certainly must have been ill!
My first grade teacher queried once, "Therese, why do you talk so much?"
My simple answer was, "Because I have a lot to say."
To top it all off I married a man who can talk as much, if not more, then me. Our children had no chance, between heredity and environment; they could be nothing less then experts in the art of babbling.
I usually win in the duels of disseminating my vast knowledge (yeah right) only because I also inherited my dad's loud voice. I have the highest amps.
One difficulty with all being talkers is our listening skills leave a little something to be desired. It is hard to focus on what another is saying when your busy thinking of the next thing you are going to relay.
My youngest daughter went through a teenage stage where she did not wish to talk or share information with me. I was so hurt and missed her noise. She is twenty now and has seemed to gotten over that. Trouble is she now wants to share and it usually is at eleven at night when I'm extremely tired and cannot seem to focus.
The other night she tried the above scenario. I tried to use some listening tricks I thought I had perfected. As she talked I interjected a few well placed, "uh-huh's" and "really's". Even a few, "You don't say's."
As she exited my room it took a few seconds to register what she had last said. I guess she recognized my zoned look and decided to be ornery.
She said, "Mom I'm pregnant and my boyfriend and I are broke, so we are gonna go knock off a bank."
Not focusing I replied, " That's nice honey, have a good time."
It did register though before she had gone too far down the hall and I rallied.
"Hey Erin, if it is a successful heist could you pick me up a pizza on the way home!"
Almost all jesting aside, I feel I have improved with age; I no longer get in trouble at the library, church, and hospitals. Thank God for texting!
