Blindsided, anyone? So, there I am having a perfectly nice time at gospel choir, and... well, I suppose this needs some prep work. Long-time readers of my blog may recall that there were Issues in gospel choir last year. This year, it's been much better, and I've mostly enjoyed rehearsals. And then came today. At the end of rehearsal, our esteemed director (who seems to think that moderate conducting skill grant more power than is actually inherent in the position) announced that we had a time for our concert. Or should that be times? Well, yes, it should. Due to scheduling problems (read: we left scheduling too late), we can't get the large hall the supposed night of our concert. To make up for this, we'll be having two concerts, practically one on top of the other. Oh, and did I meantion that this is the Sunday before exams? One concert already eats an entire day. What do they think two will do to us? I understand the desire not to send people away, but the timing will probably do a lot of that for us. (Directly preceding exams, and all...) Ultimately, my problem with all of this is not so much the result (I'm a reasonable person. If this truly was the best alternative, after discussion, I might make the choice to have two concerts.), as the high-handed way it came about. No vote, no discussion, no alternatives, just a Decree From On High: This is the Way It Will Be No Matter What. You can't just decree such a big sacrifice on the part of the choir without consultation. Maybe we would have chosen to do exactly the same thing, but it would have been our choice. Or, maybe more minds to the problem would have found a better solution. As is, they're telling us all to do something very difficult, but they aren't allowing us any ownership of the decision. Sherry is perfectly willing to discuss the whole thing with me (as she expressed while not letting me get a word in until I spoke over her monologue), only appartly the decision is non-negotiable... which just indicates that my position has so far fallen on deaf ears. I just can't handle people who actually believe that discussion of major issues (and any time someone feels as strongly as I do, it's a major issue!) is bad. I don't know how to relate to them. The only way I know to work out differences of opinion is to discuss them... and that just doesn't work when the other party isn't commited to discussion, or at least willing to discuss with an open mind. ~Erin, 8:41 PM Comments: Post a Comment
