Page 29 - Voices-2021-05
P. 29

GLEANINGS FROM THE GROVE




































 Paul Fanning, DTM




      We are now poised on the edge of “back to the  we have not met in a person-to-person meeting
      future” in the coming months, both as a society  for a long time. Our normalcy has been Zoom

      and as an organization called Toastmasters  meetings, a visible part of the “Hollywood
      International. Before you use your cell phone  Squares” or “Brady Bunch” screen, all of us in
      and call the authorities to pick me up as being  our little boxes. What will happen now? Simply
      hopelessly mentally unstable, let me explain.          my friends, we go “Back to the Future” as we

          I want you to think about, but not dwell on,  return to our meeting locations and shake hands
      the world pandemic and the responses we have  in our Toastmasters meeting. For people like me,
      all participated in this past year plus. Modern  I will get out of the chair and stand and deliver
      science was at first not able to deal with the virus.  a speech with gestures once again, “work the

      It took months of crash testing and development  room,” and physically engage the audience like
      to get to the place we are in today; able to remove  we were taught to do in the pre-Covid 19 world.
      our masks if we are vaccinated, no longer having           Our clubs will face a challenge, one we did
      to hide in our homes, working remotely or  not have to broach prior to this date in time.

      whatever form of social distancing you have  What kind of meeting do we want our club to
      shared in. Our lives are returning to                  participate in? Remain an online only club, be a
          Normalcy. Yes, it might be a new normal that  person-to-person only club, or blend the two into
      embraces some of the lessons learned over the  the hybrid club most often talked about today?

      past year and a half. We can see the light at the  A club that has some members participating
      end of the tunnel, and we are ready for it.            online, and the other members being physically
          Our lives have been on hold. We in  in a room together. The future is knocking at our
      Toastmasters have perhaps gone backwards as  club doors. What will be the sergeant-at-arms




                                                                                      VOICES! | MAY 2021        29
   24   25   26   27   28   29   30   31   32   33   34