Someone recently sent me a sweet message and told me I am good to the core. I can think of few better compliments.
Occasionally, I actually live up to her assessment.
Not yesterday.
I wasn't bad or rotten or intentionally mean-spirited, but I was on a mission to both attend a PTA board meeting and avoid staying at said meeting for 2 hours.
I purposely stay in a periphery position in the PTA to avoid having to have meaningful and frustratingly long conversations about things I consider insignificant. A friend mentioned that she once sat in a PTA board meeting during which there was a lively discussion over which two shades of colors should be the selected for a certain school activity. I envision her sitting there suffering through the saga of "What color is that dress on the Internet?" except among PTA moms.
Yesterday morning, I posted on Facebook my intention to greet everyone and say, "Let's keep this under 90 minutes, or I'm outta here," and that is basically what I did when I walked in.
I didn't intend this as a threat or because I hate the people on the PTA. I happen to like many of them very much. But I also very much like my time.
There is a smidgen of me that worries that I came across as a jerkface, even though the two biggest things I did that may have ticked people off, if they weren't already ticked off by my Facebook post, were the following:
1. I said "I'M HAVING SENSORY OVERLOAD" when women at different tables were talking very loudly at women at other tables while a discussion was going on. I wasn't trying to be rude, but I couldn't keep tabs on what anyone was saying because everyone was talking. I felt like the lone Asperger kid in the classroom. It was too much.
2. At the 1 hour mark, I said, "OK, everyone. I'm notifying you that it has been ONE HOUR."
I think I may also have said "Thursday" every time an event was listed as being on a Thursday, since they always are (and I asked why is this, and no one knows).
None of this was with the goal of being an asshole, but it most certainly was with the goal of attempting to ensure my time as a volunteer wasn't wasted. I really feel like most meetings, especially among people WHO AREN'T BEING PAID FOR THEIR TIME TO SIT THROUGH THE MEETING should be managed as efficiently as possible.
I suspect I am the mouthpiece for some moms who no longer attend these meetings because they have, at times, gone on entirely too long. Or moms who just want to know what is going on in the PTA but don't want to socialize. I didn't join PTA to socialize; I joined to get stuff done for my kids' school.
I have no intention of attending every one of these board meetings every month, but when I do, I suspect I will feel I've surrendered my "good to the core" commendation because I'll be playing timekeeper or commenting about sensory overload when everyone is talking at once.
Occasionally, I actually live up to her assessment.
Not yesterday.
I wasn't bad or rotten or intentionally mean-spirited, but I was on a mission to both attend a PTA board meeting and avoid staying at said meeting for 2 hours.
I purposely stay in a periphery position in the PTA to avoid having to have meaningful and frustratingly long conversations about things I consider insignificant. A friend mentioned that she once sat in a PTA board meeting during which there was a lively discussion over which two shades of colors should be the selected for a certain school activity. I envision her sitting there suffering through the saga of "What color is that dress on the Internet?" except among PTA moms.
Yesterday morning, I posted on Facebook my intention to greet everyone and say, "Let's keep this under 90 minutes, or I'm outta here," and that is basically what I did when I walked in.
I didn't intend this as a threat or because I hate the people on the PTA. I happen to like many of them very much. But I also very much like my time.
There is a smidgen of me that worries that I came across as a jerkface, even though the two biggest things I did that may have ticked people off, if they weren't already ticked off by my Facebook post, were the following:
1. I said "I'M HAVING SENSORY OVERLOAD" when women at different tables were talking very loudly at women at other tables while a discussion was going on. I wasn't trying to be rude, but I couldn't keep tabs on what anyone was saying because everyone was talking. I felt like the lone Asperger kid in the classroom. It was too much.
2. At the 1 hour mark, I said, "OK, everyone. I'm notifying you that it has been ONE HOUR."
I think I may also have said "Thursday" every time an event was listed as being on a Thursday, since they always are (and I asked why is this, and no one knows).
None of this was with the goal of being an asshole, but it most certainly was with the goal of attempting to ensure my time as a volunteer wasn't wasted. I really feel like most meetings, especially among people WHO AREN'T BEING PAID FOR THEIR TIME TO SIT THROUGH THE MEETING should be managed as efficiently as possible.
I suspect I am the mouthpiece for some moms who no longer attend these meetings because they have, at times, gone on entirely too long. Or moms who just want to know what is going on in the PTA but don't want to socialize. I didn't join PTA to socialize; I joined to get stuff done for my kids' school.
I have no intention of attending every one of these board meetings every month, but when I do, I suspect I will feel I've surrendered my "good to the core" commendation because I'll be playing timekeeper or commenting about sensory overload when everyone is talking at once.
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