All Dressed Up with Nowhere to Go

It’s Council today, possibly the high point of this little office’s month. We are the DD (Developmental Disability Council) for our state. Actually my operation we’ll just call it Access Alert is not really part of the DD Council, but we are housed in the same office and to be honest the Council has saved our “bacon” more then once. I answer to the Council Director, who signs my timesheet which allows me to get my meager compensation for giving a third of my life to the State each working day. So, once every two months the State DD Council convenes in this office. The Council is made up of consumers, who are either DD, or represent significant other with DD of some kind or another, elected officials congressional and Senatorial types( they usually send their aids—especially the Washing DC types. However, these bigshots HAVE made appearances before, just not every meeting.The last group represented on the Council are the Agency and Department Heads and Execcutive Directors of various Office, programs and private non-profits who service folks with disabilities. It’s really quite a dog and pony show. A GOOD lunch is provided usually a hot meat product i.e. tacos, Italian something but we have had full blown turkey dinners and meatloaf and mashed tater and gravy( my favorite). Staff usually gets lunch and they let us eat the same time as the other guests. I sit on a couple of board where they feed the board then the staff of the office “feasts” on what is left. It’s sort of pathetic knowing these folks wake on the morning board meeting ad decide wheather or not to make a lunch and then just “vultch around” till the mighty board signals they are through. The director of the meeting then pulls those accordion door room dividers across the room and the doors are opened. We just hear a rush, muffled sounds as the remains of the catered tables are picked over by “office carrion” it’s not pretty.

The past couple of months I have been covering the phones during the meeting—my partner has had to do minutes during the meeting or cover the front desk.. My office in way in the rear of the office and during the door is shut and I am isolated for three or four hours. Kinda neat. I guess I do not need to nor have I been told to “dress up” for the meeting but I do—as much as I ever get dressed up for work, cords, a vest over a white turtle neck or long sleeve T and I usually take off my watch cap. Shush! The council members are coming, if I sit very still they won’t see me—all dressed up.