Read at an event to raise money for educaid held at Colchester Sixth Form College on Friday 11th November 2016.
In response to yet another awful event
fed to us in the comfort of our
own homes,
that was starting to make us
uncomfortable,
we got together as a group
and said how sad the situation was
and that something needed to be
done.
We formed a committee
to give us something in common.
We were united in our sadness.
After a few meetings
one of our group,
for reasons of their own we
supposed,
stopped coming
and instead chose to actively
respond to
the situation we were all sad
about
by giving practical help to
the people concerned.
We talked about how good this was,
and how it was easy for that
person
as they were a natural helper,
but agreed that we just needed to
be sad
about the sad situation,
and how beneficial it was
to have this committee
for the discussion, and the mutual
sharing,
of the aforementioned and duly
noted sadness.
We unanimously agreed that we
would pass on our thanks
to the person concerned
and express our sadness
to the people we were sad about.
But as we were busy with the
committee,
and with generally being sad,
we just did not have the time.
So we made sure it went in the
minutes of our meeting.
Our chairperson,
eminently qualified in sadness
both professionally and through
personal experience,
pointed out that,
as the meetings progressed,
we were all becoming much sadder
and that we should be pleased with
our progress.
Someone else raised the point that
if we were going to be pleased
about something
would that not detract from our
sadness
and therefore undermine the whole
purpose of the group.
A very interesting discussion
followed.
By now,
news of our success had spread
to other sad people,
who naturally wanted to join
and share in our sadness, and
bring along some sadness of their own.
We felt, however, that we wanted
to stay as we were
for the foreseeable future,
and, as someone kindly pointed out,
we didn’t have any more chairs.
So we suggested they form their
own group.
This led to an increase in their
sadness
and a further feeling of
rejection.
Some of our members,
Whilst acknowledging how they had
benefitted from the group,
were feeling frustrated
that the world seemed to be
becoming
a much sadder place and,
as a result,
were starting to feel angry.
We convened an extraordinary
meeting to discuss this
and concluded that we were,
fundamentally,
a committee of sadness and,
furthermore,
that anger was a different subject
matter altogether.
As a result of this decision
a motion was put forward that any angry
individuals
would be politely requested to
leave our Committee of Sadness
and form their own group where
they would be free
to be
as angry as they needed to.
One of the people concerned
who had years of experience in
anger,
(admittedly not in a professional
capacity,
but who had been spoken to by the
police
on a couple of occasions
and was currently undergoing anger
management therapy)
was nominated to be their
chairperson,
and the motion was carried
unanimously.
We recorded a vote of thanks
for all their contributions,
and wished them well in their
anger.
As a result, we were free to
continue
in the sad manner we had become
accustomed.
We agreed,
unanimously,
how very sad we still were
and we remained,
united,
in our sadness.
