meeting madness

Most people hate meetings. They find them long, boring, and unnecessary. Who really wants to sit and listen to people go on and on about something nobody really cares about in the first place?

Numbers and stats, policies and procedures. Boring! You could be somewhere else. You could be at home already or actually doing work. You whine and complain and try to come with as many excuses as you can to get out of the meeting. "My two year old has a football, homework, parent-teacher conference that happens just once a year all the way across town at that exact time! I'm so sorry, I really wanted to be at that meeting!" 

Sometimes you will even try to convince the meeting leader that you already know all the information and you don't even need the meeting. That can backfire. They could say, "Oh! That's great! You can help answer questions and add your input. I will make sure to call on you for participation!" That is the exact opposite result of what you were trying to accomplish, in fact it is now worse.  

Finally, after all of your last ditch efforts for meeting avoidance have been employed, you suck it up and go to the meeting. 

It is everything you dreamed it would be and more. You have a hard time concentrating on what the speaker is saying because you notice that she has a stain on her left sleeve and you are wondering what she had for lunch.

You start to doze off as they talk about department numbers because the numbers remind you of counting sheep. If your name, by chance, gets mentioned it jerks you back to reality and you pray to God they don't ask you anything in regards to what they have been talking about. And when the meeting finally adjourns, you jet out of there like the place is on fire. You realize, you were right, it was a complete waste of time. 

People, I am here to tell you that...I am NOT one of these people. I am one of "those people". You know the ones I'm talking about. The ones who love meetings. The weird and crazy people who get excited at the idea of an informative gathering.

Who like to hear what's going on and be in the know about the company. The ones who ask all the questions and make the meeting drag. The ones who are awake and alert with a smile on their face. Yes, I am one of "those people". I know it makes me weird and not a lot of people understand me.  Hate me if you must, but I can't help it!  I love meetings!

They are informative (I like to be a know-it-all), they are like mini vacations from normal work (breaks up the monotony), you get to see everyone (cubical like life can be very lonely), they can help you do your job more efficiently (this will make it all around easier for you and get you in less trouble), and sometimes they involve treats (come on who doesn't like treats?). Call me weird if you must, but I do not apologize. I like to embrace my weirdness! 

So, wherever you fall on the scale of the meeting madness, love it or hate it, take it or leave it, just remember it's okay to not follow the norm. Differences are what make us special. You don't have to fall to peer pressure You don't have to do or think things just because "everybody else is doing it". Be your weird, unique self, and don't be ashamed of it! Even if you get dirty looks saying "shut up and stop asking questions!"