September 4, 2008. Chevy Chase, Md. Meetings.

I do not know why I hate meetings. Perhaps it is because I sat in so many church services. Every Sunday, morning and evening we all went to meetings. Now they were not totally boring, so I don't recall objecting to them, in fact, during the sermon, I recall thinking through everything I had to do the next week, so I do not think that my early years are the cause of my dislike of meetings. Perhaps I am required to sit still and be quiet that makes me squirm. In the past, if the meeting was boring I fooled around and got in trouble, especially in school, but since I have been older, I try really hard to avoid any meetings. I often wonder if anyone really enjoys meetings. Now, if the meeting is really boring, I do some work, or I go out into the hall and talk. If the meeting is well run and moves along quickly I can be happy, even though I would always wish I were somewhere else.

At work, our sales meetings are thirty minutes long, probably because I can't stay at the meeting any longer, even when I lead the meetings. Perhaps I could blame my Father, who was even worse than me at sitting for long periods of time. He would complain about the length of the service or the length of the sermon. The Salvation Army held annual meetings for the Officers, usually for the whole area, so the meetings were large. Every so often my Father had enough meetings, and he would go off to a ball game, which did not make him popular. In fact, my Mother was always mortified that he would just leave these religious services to attend a ball game. His excuse was that he just had to get away, because he had come down with "religious indigestion". In his eyes, enough is enough, and he had had enough religion for the moment, so he would leave. I think that is the answer for my dislike of meetings. It is all my Fathers fault!!