They Took Me Off Silence

Two candidates were talking to each other incessantly when they were off to the side. Probably knew each other, and it was just natural. I took them aside,. pointed out that they had taken ME off silence and I did not like that. Gave them the choice to quit. That this was voluntary. They could stay in the air-conditioned mess hall, eat, and relax. They looked at me in horror. Nodded violently sideways “no”. I smiled and said, “Ok. You get to start with a clean slate.” Shook each of their hands with the Scout handclasp. Turned and walked away from them; I did not “check on them”. At a later OA event, one of them identified me as “the guy that told us how important this was to him”.