One Rotten Apple

My friend Dan, who is on the Ireland trip with me, said something very interesting just a few days ago. According to him, (and I am readily starting to agree with this assertion), there are two kinds of people on this trip: those that want to unite the group and do activities together, and those that seek discord and disruption to break apart the group to do separate activities.

While Dan's assertion might be a little harsh, he does have a point. One of the girls in the group, Leah, has done just such a thing, and admittedly, I lost my patience with her today. We were on our way to another historical site after visiting the Hill of Tara and stopping for lunch in the sleepy burg, Kells. Dan and Dr. Chown were discussing something about car accidents and I began to relay a story from my youth when my father and I happened upon a car accident where the driver had met a grisly end on the door frame and his windshield. Its not a happy story, but that wasn't the point of mentioning it.

Leah without participation in the conversation, and without really turning to address me, moans, "Can we please not talk about this?" She'd have a point if a) she was actually engaged in the conversation, or b) respectful about interrupting; but she was neither. I stopped the story, and said quietly to her, "Frankly, I don't really care what you think." Then without looking at me, she mutters under breath, "Well that was inappropriate." To which I quickly retort, "Not as inappropriate as telling me to shut up in class." She then lied and said she didn't, and I quickly disengaged from the conversation. It just wasn't worth it.

During a class discussion during the first week, Leah loudly shushed me because she thought we were being too loud while she was pontificating. Never mind she's not the professor, but hey, who's quibbling? In another discussion a week later, she interrupts me, criticizes me for blathering, and generally makes an ass of herself. All this is after she has pronounced herself as an expert of all things Irish. Just ask her if you have any questions about living here.

She has her own set of friends who provide more "intellectually stimulating" conversation, and she does most things apart from the group. The most pathetic part about it is that she's alienated herself. No one wants anything to do with her, and she's too dumb or aloof to get it. (I'm siding with the former.)

I've told a few people that I get it, I've done that before. Back when I studied abroad in Germany, I was a presumptuous ass myself. And you know what? I had no friends. No one wanted to hang out with me. If I wasn't such a know-it-all bastard, maybe I would have had more people to hang out it. But the difference is, I learned from that, and made a lot of friends by the end of the trip.

Somebody's going to let Leah know this… soon. And I think I just may have.

So here's the second part of the story. I kick up my laptop and start up Angry Birds. The sound is on, but it's barely noticeable. So Leah gripes, "Can you turn that down or off?" No. Keep in mind, she's not complained about Connor's music heard through his headphones, or the conversation between other students, just my game of Angry Birds. She asks again, "Can you turn that down or off?" No. (Then this is where it gets good.) "How old are you? Seriously! Why can't you just be respectful of those around you!" Without looking at her, I deadpan, "I lost my respect for you a long time ago."

She moved seats.