Excuse me I am still talking

Cultural norms affect our group behavior

Kamala Harris put down of Mike Pence for interrupting

During the vice presidental debate of 2020, VP Kamala Harris smacked down Mike Pence when he interrupted her saying she was still talking. I cheered her quick repartee and wished more folks had the guts to do the same. In the culture I grew up in the tendency to interrupt others is endemic. In India people interrupt constantly when listening to someone relate a story or discuss an event adding anecdotes or jokes and non sequiturs to what the speaker is talking about.

I recall family gatherings where everyone seemed to be talking at the same time. How we managed to process all the talk is a mystery to me now but did not bother me at that time. During my college days my friends and I would do the same. We managed to simultaneously talk and listen and comment on other people’s comments. We thought ourselves quite smart. People who sat around and listened to one person talk and not interrupt were considered boring.

During graduate school at Northwestern University I was assigned an American host family who would invite me to their home over the traditional holidays so we could learn about American life. At the dinner table the patriarch of the family would relate some story about hunting or fishing from his past and the entire table would listen without a whisper for what seemed…