I've talked about the fact that Elegante Mother and I go to an exercise class three days a week. I love the woman who leads us through the routines, even when I have a day when I'd rather stay in bed.
When our Dragon Lady first came to us, we were quiet and well behaved. That lasted a whole three months. She thought we hated her. Gradually the class began to talk with each other (during class), resuming the semi-rowdiness and friendship that had characterized the class before DL joined us.
The oddest thing happened today. We have a new member. The class is supposed to be limited to 40 people, but they have overbooked it by 5 at least, for this session. The new member took her place toward the back (the front positions are coveted, as are the ones all the way to the back). Class started and the noise level was unusually high, and during the warm up, we heard the new member's voice boom out, "Talking is incredibly RUDE!!"
The Old Guard tended to ignore her comment, and kept on talking. We quiet down as the session goes on, but the socializing is as important to these people as is the exercise.
At the end of the session, when we were all putting away equipment, she strode to the center of the room and shouted to command our attention. Over more chatter, she loudly announced her pedigree as a nurse before getting to the comment that we have a treasure, and that we need to understand just how lucky we are to have our Dragon Lady and her class.
She was not well received. All of these ladies and gentlemen are over 55, and all of them have lovely traditional manners. But almost ALL of them gathered after class to say "Did you hear what she said??!!" They were astounded that a visitor would be so pushy.
Our youngest member walked up to DL and asked her how much she had paid the woman to tell us to hush up. *G* We're all waiting to see if this woman will return. She was overheard saying something about needing a quiet environment in which to exercise.
The core of this class has been together for years. They've had so much fun together at class that others have heard about it and been drawn to join. I suspect there will always be some chatter in the back row, especially as the class starts, but if our leader can deal with it, then our new member needs to keep her opinions to herself.