All talked out: Are we a bunch of blabbermouths?

This year, I have volunteered for the second time to teach an introductory course in communication technology at the communication department of one of the most prestigious state universities in this country.

While I immensely enjoy sharing what I know with the students, I have to admit that their habit of chattering among themselves while I talk to them often gets on my nerves.

I have tried almost every soft trick I can think of. I have used threats. I stop talking and wait until they become quiet. However, it's not long before they open their mouths again. The only thing I have not done so far -- and I do not think I will the heart to tell them -- is remind them that I do not get paid for coming to teach them.

The course is a compulsory one, and for some reason the department thought it was not necessary to limit the number of students who could enroll. As a result, I have 116 students registered in the class. Imagine if just one fifth of them simply cannot keep their mouths shut during the lecture?

There is a small public address system in the lecture room, but I have to put the microphone very close to my lips to make my voice audible over their noisy chatter.

Last week was a disaster. I had invited a guest speaker, a prominent public relations professional with vast experience in her field. I thought the students would benefit a lot from listening to her as I had asked her to share her experience with them.

What a huge embarrassment it turned out for me, as some of the students kept gabbing while she worked hard to draw their attention. She got so annoyed that she said to them, "If you want to talk, come over here and talk. Otherwise, get out of here!"

When it comes to prattling, it seems we Indonesians can never get enough. Worse, once we are immersed in this activity, we forget that we should honor other people's right to be heard or for silence. My good friend, the journalist Ninok Leksono, once wrote about how his evening at the opera was ruined because someone sitting right behind him kept saying to her companion: "This is not as good as the Phantom of the Opera that I saw in London."

Do you still remember how Abdurrahman "Gus Dur" Wahid lost his temper because people kept yakking while he -- then the president of this republic -- was talking to them? Obviously, disrespect for a speaker is not the monopoly of young students in our society.

It is so funny to think that we have such an excessive need to talk that we blab even when we are supposed to hush. Is there really so much urgency that we continue to chatter during a music performance? Or, have we forgotten that a concert hall is not a sidewalk cafe?

As to those students, if they were not interested in what their guest lecturer was talking about, why could they not at least appreciate her effort in coming to their class?

Our chattering habit seems to have far surpassed our ability to get things done. Meetings often become so time-consuming simply because it is hard to stop people from talking about things not related to the issues that need to be addressed.

Even at church my wife is often annoyed by teenagers who keep chatting during mass. "If you come to church, talk to God, not to your friends," she once told them.

Is it because we rarely meet each other so that we cannot stop talking when we do? Not necessarily. Cell phone operators still enjoy a lot of revenue even after the SMS was introduced. Every week we come to family gatherings, high school reunions, etc., yet we do not seem to have said enough.

Well, if we are really a bunch of blabbermouths, at least let us try to show some respect for others -- and shut up when it is clearly a time to be silent.

-- Zatni Arbi