he has that right

I went to a meetup event in the evening, Brazilian jazz again near my workplace in downtown st. paul. but I didn't see the postal service accountant this time, one of the musicians said he was out of town. then I said 'he has that right to go out of town', just like I do. there was an older man in a business suit at a table I was sitting at for a while, he was fairly quiet and then he left. when there was a break in the music the event coordinator for the night approached me and I enjoyed our conversation. I did speak of performing. but my Achilles heel still is trying to reason with people that can't be reasoned with. I found this out after the show, where I heard this man drone on for a while about his life philosophies and give me unsolicited advice. he contradicted himself, as he spoke of living in Berkeley, CA, in the 1970s but also said 'live in the now and don't hold onto the past'. it was hard to get a word in edgewise with this 'old hippie'. I was getting annoyed as he didn't listen to me that well, and he did one thing that doesn't impress me at all- pointing out he is older than me. so what? does he think he's better than me? and why didn't I just leave a lot earlier than I did? am I too polite? did I just think of it as comedy material? there were some chances to leave way earlier than I did, especially when he talked to somebody else for a few minutes- that was leaving- and then came back to me. well I know this much: whenever something like this happens, I try to learn a valuable lesson from it. what is typical is that somebody can get away with this stunt only once, and after it I avoid them like the plague. I've said it before how trying to tell me how to live my life- which is what he was doing- is the cardinal sin, and I have ended friendships over this. I think what this lackluster event has taught me is that I should try harder to attend a wide variety of meetup events. so far I have only done this one, and it is once a month. I did speak of the first event, at an art museum, getting canceled and that was tough to handle emotionally. I am hopeful to find events that don't interfere with my normal performing schedule.
   at the office my boss took a day off, and another manager spent time talking to some of my colleagues about how he is obsessive compulsive. it was a busy day for me, and I may have underestimated how busy it would be. my 'tag team partner' also took the day off so I had to cover for her on the payoff report and new titles. thankfully I got everything finished and still left on time. I don't mind the challenge of a busy day, as I told my 'work spouse', but I am thankful I don't have it too often.