Day 260 - 11 Jun 96 - Page 33
1 A. It was a peculiarity of the meetings that I experienced
2 that by virtue of being at the meetings it was assumed that
3 you had an interest in that which everybody had an interest
4 in.
5
6 Q. And that was not actually the case?
7 A. Well, individuals are individuals; not everyone can be
8 interested in everything that everyone else is interested
9 in.
10
11 Q. When you say that it was assumed, that was because people
12 were not all standing up -- when one person started talking
13 about something, people were not all standing up
14 saying, "I am interested in that as well, I am interested
15 in that as well", so the person who was talking about it
16 would just carry on talking about it, regardless of whether
17 or not anybody else had indicated by a verbal indication
18 that they were interested in what the person was talking
19 about?
20 A. The assumption would be seem to be on the part of the
21 speaker, yes.
22
23 Q. So, would you say that it is fair to say that what you are
24 describing there is just that somebody would stand up at a
25 meeting -- or not even necessarily stand up -- but somebody
26 would speak at a meeting about something that they were
27 concerned about, without finding out whether or not anybody
28 else in the group was interested in hearing about it?
29 A. This comment was not made specifically to the
30 meetings. It was a comment about the general attitude of
31 the individuals within the group.
32
33 Q. How did you gain that impression?
34 A. People would talk to me about things they were
35 interested in and assume that because I was part of the
36 group I would also be interested in that subject.
37
38 Q. So, what this comment is based on is the fact that people,
39 individuals within the group, would speak to you or maybe
40 other people in the group as well ---
41 A. Yes.
42
43 Q. -- and tell you about something that they were interested
44 in, without trying to find out first whether or not you
45 were interested in it or whether or not other people were
46 interested in it?
47 A. Well, I can illustrate it by saying that it was assumed
48 that within the group everyone was a vegetarian, for
49 example, because this would be the "required" attitude to
50 have to belong to the group.
51
52 Q. What actual assumption are you referring to? That is,
53 presumably, another reference to something that you have
54 given a report on, something that has been said?
55 A. No. It was assumed that if -- my impression was that
56 it was assumed by members of the group that if an
57 individual wanted to belong to the group, that they had
58 common aims and common values; it was not questioned.
59
60 Q. The reality was that that was not necessarily the case?
