The Quiet Person

By Jeff Altman, The Big Game Hunter

This was the second time I hosted the group and the second time I felt excluded from it.

The stories were all old as we played a little catch-up, the conversation as too many do these days turned to politics. The hyenas came out, cackling their opinions. As I do these days, I tuned them out and asked that the conversation be changed to something else. Quickly the conversation returned to where I

asked it not to.

I was brought back to a time in life where the same men kept me on the periphery of the group. The feeling of being tolerated rather than accepted returned.

I thought of all those meetings I had attended in my professional career where there are people on the fringes of the core of the group who, generally, are ignored, dismissed, and otherwise treated like potted plants.

Now, let me talk to you “potted plants.”

It’s easy to succumb to the feelings of dismissal but, as Justice Ginsburg said, “Fight for the things that you care about, and do it in a way that will lead others to join you.”