I kinda like how popular blog sites have you title your entries. Even though mine blog is more of a diary than anything else (so just dates is appropriate), I'm going to try titling entries and see how I like it. No promises, though. No guarantees that I'll stick with it, or even that I'll title every entry. I'm just going to try it.

   This morning was the regular monthly meeting of the Hats Off Performers Guild, a group of 7 full-time professional performers that's been meeting regularly for a couple decades now I think. {Click "Links" at left and they're at the top of the list.}  I love these guys. And every single one of them is just plain excellent at what they do.

   But most of these guys are also just plain late to Guild meetings on a regular basis.

   I know they've each developed methods of getting to their professional gigs on time because we've talked about this several times as a group, but I sure wish they would extend that same excellence to Guild meetings.

   This has been going on for so long that even the two of us who are consistently on time or early have begun to slack. I'm a little embarrassed to admit that I no longer even try to be on time. Take this morning for example. I overslept. First time in ages. My lovely wife woke me at 9:17. The meeting is scheduled to start at 9:30. It takes 15-20 minutes to get there, not counting getting ready time. I'm a get-up-get-dressed-go-to-work kind of guy: no morning shower, no breakfast, no read the paper, no nothing else —just get up, get dressed, go to work. But even that wasn't enough to get me there on time: I was going to be late. But did I hurry? No. Did I race? No. Did I get a move on? No. Truth is, I didn't hustle at all between waking up and getting there. Because you know why?: I arrived about 15 minutes late, and two of the other guys pulled in right after me and the three of us practically walked in together! Granted hree of the other guys were there already, but our seventh member didn't show for another 10 or 15 minutes! We didn't start until 10:00. Not only is that 30 minutes late, but it's 20% of our meeting time gone before we even started. Some of them have the courtesy to call and let us know they're running late, but none of the "late crowd" has the courtesy to actually be consistently on time. Even the guys who live like a 1 minute walk (at most!) from where we meet!

   Fact is, I could have slept an additional 15 minutes and still made the actual start of the meeting!

   To be fair, it's not the same 2 people who are late every month, but it is the same 5 guys, at least one of whom is late nearly every single month. In fact, I can't remember a single meeting this entire year that everyone was there in time to start our meeting when it was supposed to start.

   And then there are those who leave early....

 

   Sorry about the rant.

 

trevor@trevorthegamesman.com

PO Box 463, Haydenville, MA 01039