Closing eyes . In 1975, former Vice President Walter Mondale was invited to speak to the Japanese Diet. He became irritated when he noticed that more than half of the audience closed their eyes. When the talk was over, Mondale snapped at theU.S.ambassador, 'Why did I bother to come and talk to them?' 'Why, Sir?' the ambassador asked. 'They didn't care to hear what I had to say; they were sleeping.' 'No, Sir,' the ambassador replied, 'they closed their eyes to close out everything else in order to digest your speech.'