Clarissa's Blog

I regularly speak at the local community center for retirees. I love this audience because these are people who know a lot and I don’t have to describe everything from scratch. Engaged, knowledgeable, focused people.

This year, a very young person got the job of organizing the speaking calendar. I’m at the point of losing my temper, so I left the office to take a walk and breathe. She’s acting like I’m about to speak to a group of preschoolers. First, she suggested that I bring “homemade treats.” I reacted with horror, so she changed tack and is asking me to prepare “some fun, engaging activities” for the audience.

I have a long-standing relationship with the attendees of the community center. They’ve been inviting me as a speaker at least once a year since 2011. I always have great attendance, great reviews. But I don’t do fun activities or homemade treats. This is not how I position myself publicly. The idea is repellent.

I’m two seconds away from telling the young person to leave us oldsters to our own funless and treatless devices. Who even uses the word treats outside of the elementary school context?