Lesson 5_Opinions_Listening 2

Ivan:He can't do this! I have freedom of speech!

Oksana:Ivan Broz, lower your voice. Everyone can hear you.

Ivan:I don't care if they can hear me in Edmonton. I will not be censored.

Oksana:I'm not trying to censor you. I'm asking you to keep your temper to yourself. You can wait until you're in your own home if you want to shout and scream and wave your arms around.

Ivan:I'm not talking about you. I'm talking about Gilles Doucette. He took down all my signs.

Oksana:What signs? Not the ones about the pesticides?

Ivan:Of course the ones about the pesticides. I found all my papers in the recycling bin. Just like that. No notice, no phone call to say. Directly to the trash.

Oksana:Oh, Ivan. You know the folk festival isn't the time or place for your crazy ideas.

Ivan:It's not a crazy idea. The pesticides are killing the bees. Our bees. What will the world do without bees?

Oksana:Oh, hush. I'll say it again. Nobody's censoring you. It simply isn't the time or place. Write something for the newspaper if you're so worried about the bees. You're just upset because Gilles didn't ask you about it first.

Ivan:Well, he should have. I'm going to have a word with that man.

Oksana:That man is your friend and neighbour, Ivan. You had better make sure you have a private word.

Ivan:Of course.

Oksana:Don't "of course" me. You have no idea about boundaries. Last week was the off-colour joke you told at our dinner party.

Ivan:Come on. That was funny. Nobody has a sense of humour anymore.

Oksana:Well, I didn't find it funny. And how about the way you talked about those cookies Mrs. Wong was selling for her daughter's school?

Ivan:Those weren't cookies. They were hockey pucks.

Oksana:Well, you didn't have to tell her that. She was in tears!

Ivan:It was an honest product review.

Oksana:A little too honest. You told her she would be better off selling the cookies to the Maskwa hockey team.

Ivan:So what? I was speaking my mind. You're giving me a piece of your mind right now.

Oksana:Yes, and I'm doing it quietly. Our conversation is nobody else's beeswax. If someone comes over to talk, I'll say we're talking about honey and wax candles.

Ivan:Oksana, you know I'm an honest man. You want me to lie?

Oksana:No, but you're always crossing the line. Being honest doesn't mean you have to offend everyone you meet.

Ivan:Nobody's offended.

Oksana:Mrs. Wong was upset, Ivan. You can't just lose your mind every time you have a bee in your bonnet. Gilles Doucette is a good man, an easygoing man, but even he has boundaries. If you want to alienate another neighbour, Ivan, then you go ahead and give Gilles a piece of your mind in front of everybody. If you want his respect and his friendship, do it privately. Take him for a cup of coffee. Give him a chance to explain.

Ivan:Maybe you're right.

Oksana:Maybe I am.