He paused then Let that sit for a moment. Then he continued, his tone quieter but no less firm, the way a man speaks when he wants his words to be remembered rather than merely heard. "But I want you to understand that what you just said was disrespectful, and it was unnecessary, and if you only knew the extent to which Mr. Ben pleaded with me to be here tonight, if you understood what it actually took for him to reach me, what he had to say and how many times he had to say it before I agreed to come, then you would not be standing at this door asking me if I missed my way — you would be stepping aside and saying thank you." He did not raise his voice. He did not point a finger. He did not perform the anger that any reasonable person would have felt, but simply let the truth of what he had said hang in the air between them like a statement that required no further decoration to make its point. "Mind the way you speak to me," he added quietly, and then said nothing more.

He paused then Let that sit for a moment. Then he continued, his tone quieter but no less firm, the way a man speaks when he wants his words to be remembered rather than merely heard. "But I want you to understand that what you just said was disrespectful, and it was unnecessary, and if you only knew the extent to which Mr. Ben pleaded with me to be here tonight, if you understood what it actually took for him to reach me, what he had to say and how many times he had to say it before I agreed to come, then you would not be standing at this door asking me if I missed my way — you would be stepping aside and saying thank you." He did not raise his voice. He did not point a finger. He did not perform the anger that any reasonable person would have felt, but simply let the truth of what he had said hang in the air between them like a statement that required no further decoration to make its point. "Mind the way you speak to me," he added quietly, and then said nothing more.

He paused then Let that sit for a moment. Then he continued, his tone quieter but no less firm, the way a man speaks when he wants his words to be remembered rather than merely heard. "But I want you to understand that what you just said was disrespectful, and it was unnecessary, and if you only knew the extent to which Mr. Ben pleaded with me to be here tonight, if you understood what it actually took for him to reach me, what he had to say and how many times he had to say it before I agreed to come, then you would not be standing at this door asking me if I missed my way — you would be stepping aside and saying thank you." He did not raise his voice. He did not point a finger. He did not perform the anger that any reasonable person would have felt, but simply let the truth of what he had said hang in the air between them like a statement that required no further decoration to make its point. "Mind the way you speak to me," he added quietly, and then said nothing more.