Rona Mann of the Rotary Club of North Kingstown, shares her Post PETS Experience.
You'd think after 3 times I'd be used to it. But you're never used to it. Above all, there's that head spinning, trying to furiously process all the constant information that's been thrown at you, albeit much too fast. There's the tired, burning eyes, the smile you can no longer keep permanently in place, the mounds of never-ending handouts...paper and more paper, all making your bag seem heavier and more unwieldy.
You are tired. Bone tired.
Your brain is on overload.
You've been well fed, but you're still craving some guilty pleasure: a candy bar, a beer, a bottomless goblet of wine. Just something to reward you for all that sitting and listening and hand clapping and attention.
Bottom line: You've been to PETS training.
PETS, one of those ever-loving Rotary acronyms for President Elect Training Seminar, takes place around the Rotary universe roughly 4 months before the annual changing of the guard. It is a thorough indoctrination into Rotary: how to run a club, membership, the Manual of Procedure, fundraising, activities, budgets,etc. The only problem is that all this is crammed into the newbie's brain in a mere 48 hours. Not really unlike water boarding.
Yet each year thousands of club presidents elect go through this training, somehow regain their bodily functions and thought processes, and go on to build and help facilitate successful Rotary clubs.
I have just returned from my third PETS...twice as a President Elect, now as a budding Assistant Governor. And like finishing the Boston Marathon, the end result never changes. Mental exhaustion, a stiff body from sitting too long in one position, the feeling of finally being "let out" and the joy of being free. And then there's that other feeling. The good feeling that I am part of something very special. That although I am unique and individual, I am part of 1.2 million people worldwide with whom I share a common Rotary DNA. It sets me apart from others who have not enjoyed this shared experience, who do not wear the pin on their lapel, who do not wildly clap because only 3 countries in the world still report cases of polio. They may never know the joy of watching a shelter box be erected for people who think it a mansion, of seeing a child that formally had a cleft palate, now be able to smile a beautiful smile. They may never host a foreign student in their home and get to share their culture while receiving a new one in return. They will shake their heads not understanding how you can eat a can of beans or a peanut butter sandwich for dinner and yet call it a Million Dollar Meal. Their conferences and conventions may not fine them for using a cell phone; and if they do, the money will likely not go to sustain the work of world foundation.
No, they won't understand why on this Saturday afternoon having just "escaped" the confines of meeting room after meeting room, when I am now "free" to do whatever I want to do on this beautiful Saturday, the thing I want to do most is go home, unpack, have that bottomless glass of wine, and work on that upcoming project that needs some attention.
For I did not put on that pin 23 1/2 years ago to dress up my lapel. I put it on for good. And to do good.
I am a Rotarian.