This was my reaction, both last night and tonight.

Starting with last night, there was supposed to be a Toastmasters Club Meeting in Saginaw.  The other club coach was a little late, so I opened my bag of Flamin’ Hot Cheetos and ate them while I was waiting.  After she finally came, we both went down to Saginaw.  Being only five minutes late,  there was nobody there.  The meeting room was empty, completely occupied by the sound of silence.  The only one there was a inductee that was going to be inducted.

After waiting for a half hour, no one showed up.  At that point, I decided to do table topics.  The idea was pitched by me.  Pick a holiday and explain what you did.  After the brief session of table topics by the three people that were present, the informal meeting ended.  I went back to my car with the other club coach, and we talked about matters pertaining to the club that we were going to coach.

I get dropped off.  From there, I drive my car home.  Last night was a disappointment.  I attended a meeting that never was.  I am hoping that next meeting will be totally different.

The aforementioned title was my reaction to last night.  But that’s only half of the story.  Tonight, I had the same reaction.  When I went to work at the pizza pit, I had the expectation of business being very slow.  When I got there, I was right.  It was very slow for the first couple hours.  But after that, it suddenly went from extremely slow to extremely busy in seconds flat.  Wait!  What?  I wasn’t expecting this!  I wanted a slow shift!  I even wanted to leave early!  Neither of these requests were granted that night.

After work, I had dinner with my brother and drove home.  Another night of upset expectations, but at least I’m done working for the night.

 

Muse:  You had no meeting?  That’s too bad!  My meeting was quite the opposite.  There were 34 members at last night’s meeting, with 15 additional guests.  Of those 15, 10 want to join.

That’s amazing!  That growth is outstanding!

Muse:  Toastmasters is a new concept to Intangibles.  A concept that is becoming very popular very fast.  I am getting so many members that I might have to charter another club pretty soon….

They’re all thirsty.  Make sure that they’re well nourished with the knowledge that they need to succeed.

Muse:  Don’t worry.  I trained a few others and they know just as much about the program as I do.  As for the club you’re coaching, don’t be discouraged.  You can turn them around.  I know that we’ll need to train coaches for when the popularity dies down for Intangible Toastmasters….

Indeed.  In understanding the phases, popularity that big won’t remain that way forever.  The flame with die down sooner or later.

Muse:  And when it does, we’ll be ready with some well-trained coaches.

Not to sound rude, but I’m a little tired.  Let’s put an end on this discussion, shall we?

Muse:  Rude?  How is that rude?  It’s okay.  You probably want to relax now, right?

Yes.  That is correct.

Muse:  I’ll let you do that.  As a pointer, that new Mitch Albom book is pretty good.  I just read the whole book.  I would definitely check it out!

It’s on my to-do list.   Don’t worry!

Muse:  I’ll let you relax now.  Good night!

 

Getting back to the matters discussed before, my expectations were shattered twice.  Hopefully, this won’t happen a third time (which would be tomorrow).

Today’s high was a blistering 13 degrees and the silver lining is enjoying a period of peace in the midst of the mundane work schedule.

To those of you who don’t like shattered expectations, I hope that you all have a fantastic day.

 

Muse:  For the club that you’re coaching, I’m sure it was all a misunderstanding.  The weather might have been bad, making it  hard for some people to make it.  Others were probably on vacation.  Anyway, I hope that your next meeting goes well!