I expect we've all been admonished at least once in our lives about the need to swallow first. I know I've been. But ideas come so quickly to mind, and the more gregarious among us have a real struggle to chew and swallow before giving utterance.
I have just been at two consecutive Norwegian tables, where the company was lively, the conversation brisk and animated, and the language virtually unknown to me. As is my habit, I slipped into my default mode of observing, and contemplating. I became aware, at both meals, how often witty rejoinders and spontaneous thoughts are flavored with the spices of a half-chewed dinner. We don't think about it much, we just do it. It's a party, after all.
All of which brings me to Alberta politics, because what could bring one to Alberta politics more certainly than a cup of coffee in the sunshine on a deck overlooking a Norwegian fjord?
Sitting at the Alberta Party table, we tend to ruminate quite a lot before we speak. It's a political party, after all. Our development of message, and direction, based on table conversations with thousands of neighbors and friends is being thoughtfully considered and carefully worded. Despite criticism from a few skeptical observers, we know that good policy, like good food, takes time to prepare.
A serious goal to govern the province respectfully and responsively can only be taken seriously if we don't talk with our mouths full.
