I wrote about how this past weekend I had a casual get together with my union slate. That was so much fun and I love how chill the afternoon was. It was so different from so many union events that I go to. And the day after that hangout, I had one of my more serious union things to go to.
I’ve been doing a good job with prioritizing going to our local board meetings to be an observer. As soon as I know what the date will be for the next meeting, I put it in my calendar so I can do my best to not schedule something else that day. I know that there may be something out of my control in the future that will prevent me from going to a meeting, but I can make sure I don’t plan a dinner with friends or something the same night. Making these meetings a priority is becoming more important to me the more meetings I go to. I don’t think I was expecting to feel that way, but it makes me excited that it happened. Hopefully, that will motivate me to go to more union events even when I’m not necessarily feeling up for them.
And the meeting this week was one that I wasn’t necessarily feeling up for. It wasn’t the event itself that I wasn’t feeling ok with, I was just having a really bad pain and nausea day. I took care of myself as much as I could before going to the union for the meeting. I made sure I was hydrated, took all the medications I could, and had some anti-nausea lozenges in my bag in case I needed them. And I told myself that if I had to leave at some point to sit on one of the couches outside the boardroom or if I had to go home, I could. But I really didn’t want to have to leave at any point if I could help it. The meetings are really educational for me and I find it very important to learn as much as I can. Especially if I want to try to be elected to the local board in the next election.
Just like with all the other board meetings I’ve attended, I really can’t talk about what happened in the room. Most things that were discussed were confidential and I have to sign paperwork before going in as an observer agreeing not to share anything. But I can share that there were a few things being said in the room that I strongly disagreed with, especially things that directly involved me or things that I have been working on. Hearing incorrect or misleading information being shared was very frustrating since as an observer I am not allowed to talk. I did discuss some of my concerns with my friends who are board members after the meeting so I could feel like my opinion was heard. And many of my friends felt the same way that I did so they did speak up about those issues when they could.
I think between feeling so lousy combined with the frustration of not being able to speak up really took it out of me. The meeting did run a bit longer than expected, but I was just exhausted when it was done. I felt like I had been through so much just sitting there and watching. I wanted to get back to my house so I could decompress from everything and I didn’t really worry too much about saying goodbye to all of my friends who were there. I did make a quick round around the room to say goodbye to who I could, but I wasn’t as focused on making sure I saw everyone I knew.
Once I was home and could reflect on the meeting a bit more, I was even more motivated to continue going to the meetings and seeing what I can do to be elected next time. I hate that I have to be so vague about things, but there were just so many things discussed that I would have loved to speak up about. I know that my friends who were elected are speaking up for me, but I want to speak for myself as well. And the only way I can do that is to be elected. The next election season is still about a year and a half away, but I’m now starting to think about what I can do outside of everything else that I do to help get elected as well as getting more people from my slate elected.
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