THE WIND IN THE WILLOWS
My department supervisor had insisted that I enroll in this self-help course. It was supposed to remove insecurities, and build self-confidence. To do public speaking – delivering a report to a group of executives – we were taught all the tricks, including imagining your audience naked. The cute girl from accounting might be interesting, but the two engineers were ugly.
The instructor said, “Rodney, stand and give the group a 2-minute talk about something that interests you.” I had become fearless. I bravely stood, and stood – and stood…. I couldn’t think of anything. The body was willing, but the mind was weak.
***
Go to Rochelle’s Addicted to Purple site and use her Wednesday photo as a prompt to write a complete 100 word story.
Archon's Den 
Much as I’m an extrovert, standing up in front of peeps ain’t fun (and yet I’ve been drafted to do the eulogies for five people so far)
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Oh dear! I don’t have five people that I’m close enough to, to be tapped for that unwelcome task. I used to have a follower who wrote obituaries for newspapers, but like many bloggers, she just disappeared. 😳
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My grandmother & grandfather (a dual funeral), my dad, my husband, my aunt…
That’s the only downside of blogging… we don’t know what happens when a blogger disappears – did they die? did they just stop writing?
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My siblings are a little…. mixed up??! I recently wrote of my brother who just disappeared in a snit. My half-sister had power of attorney when my parents were in a nursing home. They both caught flu, and were taken to hospital. My Mom died on Wednesday, was buried on Saturday, and I was notified the following Monday. While not “Atheists,” Mom insisted on a simple ceremony, with no priests or preachers. My sister had a minister who had never met Mom deliver a flowery eulogy. 😛
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Sounds like my father’s family – each is f***ed up in their own way.
But notifying you after the burial? Jesus. And getting someone else to deliver the eulogy? Eesh…
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In the real world you would have time to choose a subject and assemble a presentation.
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Not always, necessarily. I’ve been in more than one of these, where the instructor uses it, both as a test for the person he picks, but as an object lesson for the others, that the hand of fate can descend at any time. 😯
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Dear Archon,
No doubt Rodney was feeling a little on the naked side himself. I personally love to speak in front of groups. 😉
Shalom,
Rochelle
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I would need some written notes. I can’t say that I love it but, every time I was in a team-building seminar, it seemed that I was the one ‘unanimously chosen’ by the rest of the group, to read the final report. 😳
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That sounds like the trainings we were forced to go to, on all subjects. The icebreakers were always interesting. The group of 50 was asked to tell the most unique thing about themselves. Thankfully in a large group you have enough time to scramble your brain to come up with something. When it was the turn for one of the social workers we used to do trauma therapy with our kids to answer, she nonchalantly said she has eaten a domesticated pet whose species shall remain unnamed. From that day forward, it became an unpleasant chore to work with her and I never trusted her judgment again.
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I just viewed another of those ‘Strange Signs’ memes. The one outside a Chinese restaurant said, “You think you just had chicken. 😯
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😦
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Aw, poor guy. Not even the cute girl could get him started.
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The company’s anti-sexual-harassment policy could get him fired. 😳
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