Meetings Limerick

Meetings Limerick

I have long been a believer that when man was created that certain checks and balances were included in the design. You can only go so long without eating before your body makes it very clear that this requirement must be met. If you go without sleep long enough, the body simply shuts down and "takes" the rest that it needs. I'm very sure that there is a similar set of mechanisms that were included to protect one from being subjected to meetings that go beyond their useful time. The human posterior is an excellent indicator. Up to a certain point it is quite happy to repose on a softly padded chair. And if you make the chair comfortable enough, you can even extend the useful time of the meeting. But sooner or later there comes the time when no matter how comfortable the chair or interesting the matters being discussed, human anatomy simply will not tolerate another moment. The posterior gets numb and the mind begins to wander. When this happens, I'm sure that if the legs were left to themselves, they would join the mind and simply wander out of the meeting. I'm still not sure why we insist on subjecting ourselves to prolonged meetings, but I'm quite sure that when God created man, that was not how He intended him to spend his time. Otherwise He would have equipped him better.

Gale L. Wolfenbarger
3 February 1989

Meetings

When a meeting has gone so long
That your bottom no longer feels strong.
And your eyes have gone closed
And your mind is all hosed,
It's time you were moving along.

Gale L. Wolfenbarger
15 July 1988