Meeting

One thing every minister knows about is meetings. Recently I went to one that will live long in the memory.

We reached our scheduled starting time and - alas and alack - we were one person short of a quorum.

It was pointed out that this therefore was not, in fact, a meeting. We talked and waited with messianic attentiveness. And waited. And waited.

The missing one did not arrive.

Well, we'd all taken the trouble to be there so it was suggested that we give some news even though it wasn't a meeting. And some more news. And more news.

The meeting that wasn't a meeting finished 90 minutes (yes, you read that right - an hour and a half) after it hadn't started.

So the next time someone complains that a meeting has taken 90 minutes I shall be sorely tempted to tell them that, even if the meeting hadn't started it might have taken 90 minutes anyway and when it was over it would never have happened . . . They should be thankful for their meeting being a meeting!