OKEECHOBEE — For some of us, a meeting is the last place we ever want to go or be. The reasons for this vary. Some hate the thought of being confined to a chair when they could be doing other things. Some are just not social and hate to gather in groups. Some of us are both. Whatever the reasons, COVID-19 has changed the face of meetings, and some of us like it. At each meeting I have attended, I have seen things that never would have been possible back “in the day.”

I am a multi-tasker, and sitting in a chair without a specific task to do drives me insane, so I hate meetings. I want to get up and do something. I find myself wondering if anyone would be offended if I rearrange their bookshelves or dust their cabinets, — anything to get out of that chair.

I have found I can get so much more done during the meetings now. Granted, I go the “voice only” route, but I am able to listen to the meetings while I am cutting out masks to sew together later, or washing the dishes or even eating supper or doing laundry. I could definitely get used to this.

Others seem to be enjoying it as well. When watching county commission meetings, you might see one of the participants sitting in a car, safely parked (or riding as a passenger). No need to rush to a meeting. Just stop wherever you are and BOOM! … er, ZOOM! Meeting. Some of the other participants sit quietly petting the dogs on their laps. Can you imagine how much lower their stress level is now than it used to be when they did not have a dog on their laps at these meetings? Who can get mad or upset while petting a tiny dog?

There are some cons to the online meetings. Not many, but some. A video making the rounds on Facebook shows a woman teaching an online class when her husband walks past the room behind her dressed only in his underwear. There is no coming back from that. She may as well hang it up when it comes to teaching that child/person/class anything ever again. It’s like that old advice you hear when you are nervous before getting up in a group. Picture them all in their underwear, and you will not be intimidated by them again. That teacher has lost her creds. All they will ever see when they think of her is her husband in his underwear.

The moral of this story is to enjoy your online meetings, but if you are going to walk around in your underwear, attend the meetings without video.