One Less Vice

Any committee that is the slightest use is composed of people who are too busy to want to sit on it for a second longer than they have to. ~Katharine Whitehorn

I'm often amazed how a normal day can end in such a different way than it started. I'm not talking about how life can be turned upside down by a tragedy, an accident, a critical diagnosis. I know those things come on quiet Tuesday afternoons or Wednesday mornings when you least expect it. I'm talking about other things that seem to be humming along in their normal course and all of a sudden change.

Last evening, for reasons I cannot discuss, four of the members of our eight person Board at West Toronto Community Legal Services resigned. As our Chair was one of those members, in the blink of an eye I moved from my role as Vice Chair to the role as Chair. Thinking about the challenges ahead kept me awake late into the night last night. All of this happened during the only Board meeting I've missed in my two year tenure.

Instead of attending the Board meeting, I went to the "by invitation only" opening of the new Joey Restaurant at the Eaton Centre. It was way fun. The food was fabulous; the service excellent. I met interesting people. While standing at the curry bar awaiting a bowl of Thai curry noodles, I was contacted by my dear friend Gail who sits on the WTCLS Board with me, and to whom I had given my voting proxy for last night's meeting, to advise me of what had transpired. Though I had tried to prepare myself for the possibility that is how events would unfold, I still felt stunned.

Within minutes of leaving Joey, around 8:30, I was already immersed in the business of the Clinic. There were calls to be made, memos to be written, plans to be developed. It is so much work. I took a couple of moments to take a few deep breaths and remind myself of why I agreed to join this Board in the first place. I do it because our Clinic serves thousands of the most marginalized people in our city. When I finally laid my head on my pillow last night, I was able to say to myself that in reviewing my day, I had truly done the best I could.