Welcome to this week in Everyday Etiquette. This time I'm looking for a few pithy statements. Here's the scenario:
We all attend meetings. I can't think of a job or a life without its share of meetings--for volunteer organizations, for schools, for companies. We've all been there.
Now we all know that some people seem to enjoy meetings more than others. How do we know this? Well, let's pretend that we're in a meeting concerning paperclip acquisition. The team has something easy to accomplish: we have to decide between coated vs. regular paperclips and choose a company to purchase said paperclips from. Not a life-changing meeting, right? If there are 10 people at the meeting on paperclip acquisition, given the law of meetings, this should take an hour tops. But...you've got a meeting-lover at the meeting. You know the type. He or she will pipe up--just when you're nearly ready with a consensus--and say, "When I was in high school..." or "When I worked for company X..." or "My girlfriend is allergic to..." or "Did you know that a man in Toledo died when a yellow plastic-coated paper clip..."
So, dear readers, what do you say when...
- You want to stop this story in its tracks, but kindly?
- You've heard this story at least 100 times and you've had it. You want, in fact, to cause a little offense, but with some humor.
We've all been there. Let's make our lives a little easier today.
