"Oh, has the world changed or have I changed?"

It was yesterday morning I set my alarm extra early.

As an 6am natural riser, extra early means getting up at binfluencer hour…the 5am club. Yuk.

I’d had a full on Monday and there was one task that I kept putting off, later and later, until I no longer had the energy to do anything other than fall asleep listening to BBC Radio 5’s "The Monday night club”

The task was to create a simple deck of slides for a meeting I’d been asked to present to at 10am yesterday.

Nothing major, they just wanted me to present my expertise on a topic and per the conscientious guilt that drives most adults who are paid to work, I didn’t want to let them down.

I’m an adult.

So are you.

Be on time with stuff…you know…

courtesy.

So, fueled by my Lidl Italian Style (strength 4) filter cofee and a couple of mushroom gummies (the closest I get to real drugs these days), I spent a couple of hours smashing out some superb slides.

Did I tell you I’m in love with Canva?

Nothing special, but two hours of my time, all before the kids got up.*

*this KIDS line is essentially a lie. My kids are young adults now, perfectly capable of doing everything for themselves. But by mentioning the word kids it makes me sound young like so please never challenge me on this semantic again.

And here’s where the Wednesday Rant sets in…

(it may well go down as my infamous Tuesday tango when I come to writing my long awaited book ‘Corporate Bull’)

10am arrives, I join the meeting. 9.59am to be super prepared.

Of the 5 attendees who I’d prepared my presentation for, it was a tale of utter woe.

Just 1 was on time.

1 turned up at 10.05am, dialing in from his car (the background noise provided a lovely fuzzy ambience to said Teams call that reminded me of Channel 4 after 10pm in the late 80s).

2 more turned up at 10.10am, dialing in again from hands free in their respective cars (having been chased for their attendance). The ambience provided by their shared commute resembled a ZX Spectrum 48k as ‘Horace Goes Skiing’ started to load on the cassette deck.

1 more has never turned up. I sure hope she’s okay.

(I didn’t send out a search party to be fair)

Here’s my problem.

My big probkem.

This meeting, with clear Purpose and Outcome that had been set up with two weeks notice, was clearly one that required full engagement and one in which a presentation would be made.

There was not one of the attendees who bothered to inform me ahead of time that they would be having to drive and dial in.

Not a single apology for lateness.

And as for missing Miriam…

As I said. I sure hope she’s okay.

This is culture.

This is how you kill it.

This is apathy.

________

The Queen is Dead.

She said “I know you and you cannot sing”

“I said, that’s nothing you should hear me play piano”

See you next week….maybe…

for another Wednesday rant

a few mins late

maybe

or maybe not at all.

We’ll see.