Protocols were not observed

I was at a conference a couple of weeks back.

I thought all was going well.

Suddenly with no warning one of the participants stood up.

"Protocols were not observed," he said. This was followed by a long speech about observing protocols, what the protocols were, and how upset he was they had not been followed.  Then a series of apologies, a scurrying around to make it up to the offended party, more apologies. Tears were shed.

There had never been any intention of rudeness. People simply did not know what the protocols were. Yet trust was broken.  It became almost impossible to move forward.

It was awkward.

I left.

Last week in a political group I belong to, protocols were not observed.  I'm not sure how innocent the breaking of the protocols. They had not been made clear.  But trust was lost.

It's hard to come back from.