Is This The Life

It must be mid-morning. I’m sitting at a large desk with six or seven others in a meeting room. Somewhere outside Rugby. We’ve been fed tea. We have enjoyed biscuits. A Health and Safety Manager has just explained that a retail unit that we, collectively, manage has an issue where homeless and/or drug addicts defecating in the alley behind the store. The staff have complained that when they take deliveries into the store, they often have to carry boxes and heavy loads while watching their footing to avoid human turds. I knew what was going to be discussed in the meeting beforehand. I had responded to a couple of emails. I had already offered a couple of solutions and ways to support or resolve the issue. Regardless, I have been summoned to attend a meeting to offer the same solutions and the same ideas. But this time, out loud. I had sympathised with the staff member’s plight before the meeting and I am sympathising with their plight now. But the meeting has turned a littl...