Okay, pop-quiz time:

How many meetings can randommuse attend without her brain turning to complete mush?

A. As many as you throw at her

B. Maybe 12 a week

C. Too late

My job can be a soul-sucking experience anyway and the NUMEROUS meetings I have to attend do not help. If something were actually accomplished at said meetings, then maybe it would all be worthwhile. However, the meetings I attend usually all follow the same format:

A. Welcome and Introductions

B. Random bitching about "problems"

C. Assigning individuals to "task forces" to study the "problems" more in-depth

D. Adjournment without anything being accomplished

If they would at least print an agenda like that one, the honesty alone would make a better meeting than the ones I attend now. You learn to keep your mouth shut, lest you be "elected" the chairperson of a task force.

In terms of the biggest complete waste of time, the planners where I work meet every Wednesday morning to "discuss" issues. Now understand, we ALL work in the same building...our offices are right next door to each other. The senior planner alone voice-mails me upwards of fifty times a day to ask me to listen to a memo that she has written to make sure that it's okay to send. If I'm stupid enough to make a suggestion, I'm then punished by another voice-mail that entails reading the ENTIRE memo again (not just the change). Anyway....

We were gathered for our planner's meeting yesterday. Our newest planner, who will be termed Skinny Pretty Empty-Headed Bitch or SPEHB for short, was there in all her glory. This is a girl that, because of cuteness, has not had to truly think or articulate a complete sentence. She flicks her hair and the world become right again.

Anyway, after a three-hour long marathon session of nothing (I wish I was exaggerating, but I'm not), our executive director asked if there was anything else. Now, EVERYONE knows this is code for "I'm sick of sitting here and want a cigarette, so let's be done, shall we?" Well, everyone knows but SPEHB. She then says that she would like to discuss the Project Directors' Meetings we have because her projects find them irrelevant.

I'm in charge of the Project Directors' Meetings. I only do these three times a year. I use them to make sure that broad issues get to our projects that receive our grant funding. The last meeting (a couple of weeks ago) dealt with the budget cuts and their impact and how to deal publically with cuts in service. Now, my projects bitch about coming to these meetings. They hate meetings about as much as I do. But, I keep the complaining to myself. And, I don't think the term "irrelevant" has ever been used by one of our project directors.

For some reason not understood by SPEHB, I took this personally, to the point that I asked her if SHE would like to take over these meetings. She couldn't understand why I was upset and her "apology" to me was...

"I'm sorry you took what I said the wrong way."

Now, in this same meeting, our executive director asked about grant opportunities for our agency. This is exactly why SPEHB was hired. She had absolutely no idea what was available. See, if it's a legislative or advocacy question, I'm expected to know the answer. But, SPEHB flicks her hair and world goes on.

SPEHB has taken over a project that certifies business as being friendly to elders. Her work has been extolled publically to our advisory council and board members. I mean, she made a brochure and everything. I wrote a four-year area plan that actually GOT us our federal and state funding, advocated successfully for numerous legislation for seniors, and have represented our executive director many times in the community. I got...nada, zip, nothing.

I'm done.

I'm vested here in January (for some of the younger readers, that means my retirement goes with me when I leave). After that, I want something new. I'm single with no dependents and can go anywhere. I'm not sure what yet, but there's got to be SOMETHING out there that doesn't suck out your soul everytime you walk through the front door of your workplace.

My friend just told me the salaries of the mailroom workers at her place of employment and it's about $10,000 more a year than what I make.

::sigh::