Stop Talking!

There?s a certain power in silence. In a recent cover article by Time Magazine, it was pointed out that, in our world where extroverts, or the loudest, get the most attention. Introverts, or the quieter people, may be the better adjusted. Being a card-carrying introvert, I like that theory.

Have you ever been in a crowd of yakking, noisy people and just wanted to scream, ?Would everyone just please shut up!??

There?s a rather sexist joke going around, mostly among men, that women have 10,000 words in them, and they?re not happy until they get those 10,000 words out. Daily. The medical profession tells us that there may be a good reason for that. It seems that women have a gland in their neck that men don?t. The jaw action of talking stimulates that gland, producing endorphins that make them feel better. Women love to talk.

I?ve written about George Helt before. In 2010, he passed away at the age of 92. George had an interesting and eclectic life of farming, photography, flying model airplanes, world travel, and love for his family and friends. In talking to his wife, Fern, who is 93, another story about George emerged.

George had a gravelly voice and, yes, he was shy, or introverted. One morning, when George woke up, there was blood on his pillow. Fern made him go to the doctor. The doctor couldn?t see anything wrong, so he sent George to Iowa City. At Iowa City, the doctors ran a tube down George?s throat, but couldn?t see anything wrong. They advised him not to talk.

That is just what George did. For six months! Fern wrote a note for him that he carried in case someone came up to him and started talking. The note, in Fern?s articulate handwriting, said, ?Please excuse me. I can?t talk.?

As I mentioned, George loved to travel. At the time of the stop-talking scenario, George had a trip to the 1963 World?s Fair in New York City planned. He was taking his 8-year old son, Kenneth.

And they went?George not talking the whole way. George and Kenneth drove to Chicago and flew in an airplane to New York City. They stayed in a hotel, visited the World?s Fair, saw a model of the proposed World Trade Center, a three-wheeled car with bathing-suit model, Times Square, a Camel-Cigarette billboard with smoke coming out of the man?s mouth, the Empire State Building, and the Statue of Liberty?George not talking the whole time. But taking lots of pictures, you betcha! The camera did his talking.

They came home by bus, a trip that took 28 hours. They were in the same bus the whole way, and dropped off in New London at exactly the scheduled time.

Back home, George, still in stone silence, went to the Mao Clinic in Rochester, Minn. to find out what was wrong with his throat. The doctors there poked and prodded and did all kinds of tests. They could find nothing wrong. George was told that he could start talking again.

George looked at them. His face fell. He wasn?t sure if he didn?t like the quiet world just a little better.

Have a good story? Call Curt Swarm in Mt. Pleasant at 319-217-0526, email him at curtswarm@yahoo.com, or visit his website at www.empty-nest-words-photos-and-frames.com