DON'T!
We moved into a new place. The first strata council meeting eventually arrived. My partner had been anticipating the event for two months, was eager to go, and I was thrilled for her to represent. I was also happy to opt out. She reported back that I was the only one not in attendance, that she explained my absence to the group as “He doesn’t like meetings,” and that the secretary noted this in the Council’s minutes.
I thought all of that was funny. I recounted it to friends over dinner. They seemed to feel that what was funny was my electing to not go to the meeting. The suggestion was that I was engaged in some sort of neglectful avoidance. “Meetings are about building relationships” and, they insisted, “there are decisions needing to be made.” On and on.
No, no, no. To start, of course, I don’t have a problem with meetings. Meetings themselves are not the problem. I, like so many others, have a legitimate grievance with people so enthusiastically and lavishly wasting their own and everyone else's time. I mean, you can buy a car or a house or start a war or launch a missile strike with the click of a mouse. You think organizing recycling pick-up or painting a door requires vastly more time and one-on-one interaction? I'd love to hear why.
