'A camel is a horse designed by a committee.' -- Vogue magazine, 1958
Note to self: at 10 am, you are due at a meeting of a committee with which you are unfamiliar, to which you have been merely co-opted for the purposes of this particular meeting, and at which $$ decisions will be made about matters concerning literature, the arts, literacy, yoof and so on.
Do not repeat do not open your mouth until you have ascertained the group dynamics, the internal politics and the unspoken protocols of said committee.
That is all.
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6 comments:
Well, too late now, but I rely on one of two strategies in these situations.
1 - wear a cardie with lots of pills on it and pick them off.
2 - repeat "[s]he'll keep" in your head as many times as necessary.
Colouring in all the "o's" in the agenda and meeting papers is an amusing alternative to the cardie/pill thing.
Glad to report that "[s]he'll keep" wasn't necessary today. But I agree that it often is.
I was once on a committee of seven on which the other six were men. I amused myself by classifying them as either black cats or sandy dogs. Unfortunately it only took about three seconds, and the cat:dog ratio was 2:4. Sad.
Heh, my first glance at the post title registered 'Camel-toe avoidance'...
I colour all the 'o's as well. Save making eye contacts and ending up being co-opted into stupid sub-committees.
*saves*
GAH
Oh my, as one who works with "literature, the arts, literacy, yoof and so on", this post is making me feel extremely anxious!
It wouldn't matter what the subject matter was, these things are (potentially) true of any committee meeting at all -- the problem is committees qua committees.
This particular meeting was an unqualified success, as it turned out. We had all read the material properly, none of us interrupted the Chair (not even me), the coffee was hot, the Danishes were fresh, and we produced a result we were all happy with.
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