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mens_table_response

My Take on the Email from Wayne Krueger of 6/8/2026

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Wayne,

Thank for you email.

I am the one man that is being referred to .

I agree these are normal responses to what has happened.

What happened

At the end of the July meeting I brought up that I was not happy that the state government had brought in new legislation to do with ebikes such that I would be restricted to only be allowed to do 12 kph when riding on a foot path in all circumstances.

Chris then started talking about a time when he had hit a pedestrian whilst he was driving, and that the pedestrian had previously been drinking. I attempted to bring the conversation back to what I have been talking about and somehow the discussion got to wearing crash helmets. I mentioned that the road toll would be reduced dramatically if all car drivers have to wear crash helmets. Ther was a bit of back and forth conversation, and after I said something, Chris and Phil got up and left. I most likely did over talk Chris.

Andrew then said I was argumentative and rude. I'm willing to accept,the argumentative tag, but the rude bit is subjective

I was not aware until just before the August meeting, that Andrew had sent me this individual Whatsapp message on 7 July 2026:

“You managed to spoil a good night there by arguing with anyone about anything”

Then this message 4/8/2026:

“Due to Geoffs behaviour at the table last month I won't be attending this evening. The Mens Table is intended as a safe space to share about real things in their lives, without interrupting, arguing, talking over the top of and ignoring everyone else. My spare time is too limited to be wasted. My mental health too valuable to be exposed to that again.”

What did I do wrong?

I am not aware of anything such that any person is not allow to be argumentative. However I appreciate that some people may not want to enter into argumentative conversations. If that is the situation they could say so.

A real thing in my life is arguing about things that are important to me.

I agree that because of my enthusiasm and a lack of empathy, that I may sometimes overtalk in conversations.

However I definitely do not ignore everyone else.

My Personality

If you wish to no about my personality, you can read what I have previously written about myself here. Also about my educational and work history.

As I spent most of my professional career as computer programer, I spent a lot of time arguing with computers. It is what I naturally do when presented with what comes across, to me, as being illogical. Hence my conversation about Ebike rules and the wearing of crash helmets when driving cars.

Regardless of this, I learnt in an early sales career, that most people are more emotional than logical, and adapted my conversations accordingly.

Following Rules

As I had mentioned numerous times at table meetings I have difficulty with authority.

One of the things I liked about the table concept is the lack of authority. That ther are suggestions as to how meeting can be run, but they are not hard and fast rules.

I distinctly remember Wayne mentioning this at our entree. That even though it is suggested that conversation should not be about politics and sport, there is one table that exclusively talks about such things.

Andrew, has pulled up a number of people at meeting that are not doing what he feels are rules of the table. I destinctley remember at our first meeting, Andrew said to a person that that was talking to about the past, that we are not supposed to talk about our past.

I am not aware of such a rule or suggestion about not taking about the past. That person did not attend future meeting.

Freedom on speech

Dealing with Mental health

I have lived with a person, for the last 6 years, that has severe mental health issues. I have learnt from this a number of things:

  • It is extremely difficult to change a persons core beliefs
  • Early intervention is critical
  • Ther is always an underlying reason for the condition.
  • Face to face dialogue is essential
  • Ignoring or averting the problems does not make them go away
  • Mental illness has nothing to do with intelligence
  • Making adjustments in your life for others mental illnesses can make yourself mentally ill
mens_table_response.txt · Last modified: 2026/08/09 15:08 by geoff