That pretty much sums up my relationship with the K-Family since April 2009.
And before I go on, I promise this will be my last musings about this situation. Really.
On Saturday, I attended the annual K-Family Brewers Game. Seeing it had been a full year (last years KFBG) since I went to a K-Family event, I wasn't sure what to expect. However, my experience was, well, interesting....
I wasn't expecting bells & whistles or the red carpet treatment. However, I didn't even get one "hello" hug. Now I'm not big on hugging each and every time you say hello/good-bye to someone (unless it's my parents or other folks I don't see often), but the K-Family is a "give-a-lot-of-hugs" type of group so I'll just go along with it. And it's somewhat expected. That set the stage for the evening...
I felt out of place and generally not welcomed - with exceptions, of course. Granted, there were a plethora of Circle K'ers I didn't know, but being about of the loop, that wasn't surprising...but those aren't the people I'm referring to. I reference the people I knew, those I served alongside with, those who I thought would support me in at least some regard. There were some obviously forced greetings, laced with the "why the hell are you here?" tone. Some people, again whom I worked and served with, who ignored me completely...including one rather high-ranking Kiwanian. Keep in mind, these are the same people who wouldn't hesitate to talk to me when I was administrator. I guess in their minds, I serve no purpose to them anymore and therefore, anything beyond a simple "hello" (if that) is just too much effort.
The only folks who appeared to be welcoming were a recent past CK governor, a Kiwanian from Madison (we had a every nice convo in the concession line) and anyone affiliated with Marquette CKI. MU CKI still rocks. Just know that your friendliness was much appreciated. That being said, I'm glad i sat next to a CKI'er scoring the game (and was actually able to help...Granddad taught me well) and I brought a guest - otherwise it likely would have been a very lonely and uncomfortable evening.
Yes, I get that the way I fell/got forced out of the loop was less than ideal. One would think that coming to an event shows a bit of effort (and a bit of pride swallowing) to possibly become involved again. Then again, I'll give someone the benefit of the once. Maybe it's a mistake to ask for that in return. Yes, I get that I "broke the rules" and thus, there should be consequences. However, I think my so-called punishment is a bit extreme for the crime. Yes, I get that communication is a two-way street. I can "small talk"; I'm fairly adept at it. In fact, I was chatting with someone in our group and I still have no idea who he is. However, it only works if the other person actually has even a minute interest (or in non-pc terms "gives a fuck") in participating.
This event mirrors my post-administrator encounters with the K-Family, again with exceptions. Those exceptions? The administrators & alum I hung out with at CKI events. I miss those guys dearly, and fortunately I've stayed in touch with a majority of them. Plus, these are the only folks who appear to have a genuine interest in me staying involved with the K-Family. Hell, one even extended the invitation to join his club (even though it's a Georgia-based eClub). Sadly, that seems to be the only sincere and personalized invite I've received.
Overall, my recent experiences with the K-Family have been less than stellar. OK, maybe a baseball game isn't the best benchmark to determine my future involvement with the organization. But whether it was by design or otherwise, for the most part I felt like an outcast and unwelcomed. And it certainly didn't get me motivated to rejoin Kiwanis.
This from an organization to which I dedicated nearly two decades of service. Apparently, that doesn't mean much anymore.
Maybe that's why I never got that good-bye hug either...
No comments:
Post a Comment