"I wasn't learning anything there"

someone told me yesterday.
She had caught me in the chemist. 
Picking up prescriptions for the Senior Cat is fraught with such dangers. There is, all too frequently, someone I know there. Most of them are older people who know the Senior Cat. They are often alone and they want to talk to someone.
This time however it was someone I knew. She "wanted to tell me something" and it was clear she had been waiting for just such an opportunity.
     "I didn't pay my subs again," she told me and then, for the second time, "I wasn't learning anything there."
Rather than say anything I gave her an inquiring look. She went on to explain in some detail. I listened.
I didn't like what she was saying but the awkward part was that she did have a point. She is an older person and there was an expectation that she "already knew these things", that she didn't need any help. 
      "They kept saying things like, "Don't you know how to do that?" and making me feel stupid," she told me.
There was apparently also an expectation that, if someone did explain something, then she would immediately understand without further explanation.
      "She just said, "I've already told you how to do that" and then went on at me about listening to what I was told."
Even allowing for a certain amount of exaggeration on her part I did feel concerned. I still do. Her expectations were not being met. They were not being met to the point where, rather than try again, she had simply left. 
I know she was also hinting that I might give her some private help. I hedged on that one and suggested another group. I could give her some help there and so could at least two other people. 
     "Thanks. I'll think about it."
At least she went as far as to scribble down the times they met.
I don't know whether I will see her there or not. 
I thought about her problem on the way home. It seems to me that the group isn't as good as it could be about teaching people but there are a number of reasons for that. 
Sometimes people don't ask for help. They don't like to admit they don't know. Sometimes they ask for help in an indirect way and other people don't recognise that. 
Like children adults have different learning styles and rates of learning, particularly where a craft is involved. They won't necessarily "pick up" something immediately. It might need to be explained again - and explained in a different way. Adjusting the way you communicate can be difficult.
While you can often teach a small thing without preparation the big things need to be planned and prepared for and that takes time.
Not all adults can teach.  You need to know not just about your subject but about people as well.
I'll never stop learning about teaching.