The other day I went to a meeting with the newly elected Congressman from our district, Tom Mclintock. The Congressman had wanted a meeting with the organizations that represented county businesses as well as other sectors of the county. The purpose was not to listen to him speak, but primarily for him to listen to the concerns of these organizations and their associated business clients. The group, while small, was fairly representative.
The Congressman gave a small opening statement that was par with his usual talks. No notes, just straight talk that we associate with Mr. McClintock. It was informative and current. The Congressman followed by answering questions from the group for about an hour, in a very informal setting. When the meeting was over he stayed for an extra 45 minutes just talking with those who wanted to ask a question they hadn’t gotten the chance to ask earlier.
This brings me to the purpose of this article. In every meeting of this type, there are two types of people; those who are there for legitimate enlightenment, and those who are there for the furtherance of their political egos. You can always recognize these folks, as they are the ones that monopolize the questions, but right in without asking for acknowledgement, want to carry on a conversation and control the Congressman’s time. They are also the ones that, after the meeting when everyone is just conversing, want to monopolize the face time, ignoring others who are waiting, or but into a conversation with almost a childish, “look at me, look at me”. It always irritates me, but I guess when your ego needs to be stroked that badly, you will do ridiculous things. As if the Congressman had not been in office long enough to recognize this syndrome.
Who gets shorted by these folks? We do, since the Congressman gets only a portion of the information he came to get. Oh, and when the Congressman holds the next meeting, these people will be there trying to get their egos, fragile as they are, stroked again.
I’ve got news for this type, we don’t need you to interpret for us, we don’t need you to but into our conversation with your feeble attempts to stroke your own ego, we don’t like your silly little anecdotes. We can converse on our own very well, thank you. We will quickly state our information and respectfully let the Congressman move on. I suggest you do the same.
The Congressman gave a small opening statement that was par with his usual talks. No notes, just straight talk that we associate with Mr. McClintock. It was informative and current. The Congressman followed by answering questions from the group for about an hour, in a very informal setting. When the meeting was over he stayed for an extra 45 minutes just talking with those who wanted to ask a question they hadn’t gotten the chance to ask earlier.
This brings me to the purpose of this article. In every meeting of this type, there are two types of people; those who are there for legitimate enlightenment, and those who are there for the furtherance of their political egos. You can always recognize these folks, as they are the ones that monopolize the questions, but right in without asking for acknowledgement, want to carry on a conversation and control the Congressman’s time. They are also the ones that, after the meeting when everyone is just conversing, want to monopolize the face time, ignoring others who are waiting, or but into a conversation with almost a childish, “look at me, look at me”. It always irritates me, but I guess when your ego needs to be stroked that badly, you will do ridiculous things. As if the Congressman had not been in office long enough to recognize this syndrome.
Who gets shorted by these folks? We do, since the Congressman gets only a portion of the information he came to get. Oh, and when the Congressman holds the next meeting, these people will be there trying to get their egos, fragile as they are, stroked again.
I’ve got news for this type, we don’t need you to interpret for us, we don’t need you to but into our conversation with your feeble attempts to stroke your own ego, we don’t like your silly little anecdotes. We can converse on our own very well, thank you. We will quickly state our information and respectfully let the Congressman move on. I suggest you do the same.
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