I just got an email asking me to be a representative on something for which I am, I'm convinced, the WORST possible choice--but the reasons that I'm such a bad choice aren't such that I could voice them. I.e., I find most of the people in this group incredibly annoying and I make fun of them in my head (and to TM) all the time, and I have various campus-political views that aren't in line with what many of the vocal members of this group espouse. It wouldn't be too terribly hideous, time-commitment-wise--one meeting a month--but oh, a part of me will die in every meeting, seriously. The banality! The jargon! And my nemesis will surely be a dominant speaker at every gathering.
Is there any conceivable excuse that I could give to get out of it? I mean, okay, maybe I'd a) come to tolerate the Other Side a little more or b) get the Other Side to see the Good Side's perspective and become more sensible, but agh, no, I would so so rather not be involved.
Ideas, anyone? Or am I doomed?
4 comments:
Hmm, is it the sort of thing where you can make a plausible case that someone who's already tenured would be a more effective representative? Or is that a nonstarter?
Pretty much not relevant. However, I just talked to my chair, and he thinks that proper governance is being circumvented! Huzzah! I might have an out *that* way!
If not, then basically it will be a Parade of Maddening Banality for the foreseeable future.
The only excuse I can think of giving is, "You *know* that I'll spend every meeting just compiling a list of all the inane and irritating things that people say so that I can go home and read them to my husband, right?
How about option C: Taking on this committee with irritating people will give me lots of potentially amusing anecdotes to blog about?
Could you somehow suggest that you have some kind of vague off-campus committment that will make it hard for you to make all the meetings, then suggest an alternate committee (one that meets at a different time)? I mean, people do have childcare or eldercare obligations, take music or athletic lessons, etc., and those really are reasonable excuses for a particular obligation. Ass long as you show that you're willing to do service, you should be able to have some input into which committee... maybe... hopefully?
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