When you consider all the glamorous occasions which are a
necessary part of my year in office as
Consort to the District Governor, it is easy for people to think that my
life is a constant whirl of dinners, receptions, celebrations and chatting to
other VIPs (MPs, Sheriffs, Lieutenants, Mayors and the like). So I think it is important to mention, as I
begin the second half of my year in office, that quite a lot of my time in
between engagements is taken up with more mundane, domestic activities. The DG
receives a lot of e-mails, phone calls, correspondence, parcels, leaflets,
bulletins, not to mention callers at the
house. It takes exceptional organisational ability to deal with all this on a
daily basis, prioritising, responding, delegating as necessary and keeping all
these balls in the air. Fortunately the DG has the ability to cope with all of
this, and furthermore, she enjoys it.
The DG hard at work organising her District, using an Ipad Mini
Hang on..... that looks like Candy Crush!
My role as her Consort is to support her through all this
hard work. Fortunately I received some training when I went to San Diego last
year for the International Assembly in important matters like ‘How to answer
the phone when the DG is out’, and ‘How to take messages from callers’. This
training has stood me in good stead, as I will often answer the phone when
someone is calling on District Governor business. Having received training in
how to speak to people on the phone, I normally cope quite well. One occasional
problem is that some callers assume I know who they are, and the conversation
is a bit awkward until I establish who it is. For instance a call may go like
this:
Me-‘Hello’
Caller– ‘Hello Mike, how are you?
Me – ‘Fine thanks, er, who is this?’
Caller – ‘It’s Peter. Is the DG home?’
Caller– ‘Hello Mike, how are you?
Me – ‘Fine thanks, er, who is this?’
Caller – ‘It’s Peter. Is the DG home?’
My training at telephone answering does require me to obtain
the caller’s name and a brief message, however ‘Peter’ isn’t very helpful to
me, as I probably know a dozen Rotarians called Peter. So my problem here is
how to try and ascertain Peter’s surname whilst he is in full flow explaining
why he is calling. In trying to politely extract this information from the
caller, I am obviously not paying full attention to the message I am being
given, and sometimes, to be honest, my notes may not be completely accurate. A
situation could occur, for example, where Peter wanted to discuss Rotaract
liaison with the DG, but my message is that ‘he’s had a cataract operation.’
Obviously I’m not looking for sympathy here, just an understanding that the
Consort’s job is not always easy.
Deploying my message taking skills
I should also, I was
taught, have access to the DG’s diary so I can book appointments for her in her
absence. However I quickly learned that this was impractical, as she insists on
total control of her diary (and mine for that matter) and only she can make
entries in the diary. There was a time, I have heard, when I would have been
taught at San Diego how to iron the DG’s clothes, and make sure she is well
turned out for her engagements, but apparently this particular training was
dropped a few years ago when several Consorts walked out in protest.
I can, however, help in a number of other ways. For instance
I can cook. When she holds District Team meetings at our house, or Strategy
meetings, or Conference committee meetings, I can prepare food for them all to
enjoy. I can bring her cups of tea as she slaves away on her laptop. I can
drive her to engagements (although if there is a bar she will normally have to
drive us home). I can carry her bags at Conferences and other trips away. I can
kiss all the ladies in a room so that she doesn’t have to. So, you see, there are a number of ways I can usefully carry out my duties as Consort.
There are, I have discovered, some aspects to being a
District Governor that I hadn’t previously realised. One of these is
shopping. Ascending to the role of First
Lady in District 1140 has entailed a significant increase in one of the DG’s
favourite activities, necessitated, I have been told, by the importance of not
being seen twice in public in the same outfit. Apparently people notice these
things. I did respectfully suggest that in her existing wardrobe the DG already
had sufficient garments to wear a different outfit every day for a year, but
what I hadn’t appreciated was that many of these outfits would have clashed
terribly with her Chain of Office. This principle also extends to handbags,
shoes and ear-rings.
A perfectly co-ordinated outfit with Chain of Office
As I write this, the DG is preparing for a District Strategy
meeting at our house this evening with her team. Whilst I will not be required
at the meeting, apart from supplying drinks and nibbles for everyone as they
arrive, I am very much involved in preparations. All parts of the house where tonight’s
visitors may wander have to be thoroughly cleaned, furniture polished,
carpets vacuumed, and dog odours removed.
Sometimes, Daisy even has a shampoo prior to such meetings, especially
if she has been rolling in something nasty at the park. I think it is fair to
say that our house has been cleaner since the DG took office than ever before.
When the visitors first arrive, Daisy is inclined to become very excited and
wants to welcome them, lick them and bring them her toys, so I need to be on
guard because some members of the DG’s team are not very comfortable around
dogs, and those seem to be the very people she makes a beeline for.
A clean Daisy
On a few occasions, the DG has attended a webinar, or a
Skype conference whilst at home. These are clever ways for people to hold
meetings, even though they may be dispersed all across the country. I am a bit
of a novice where technology is concerned, and I never cease to be fascinated
when, for instance, I can see and speak to one of the DG’s colleagues, whilst
looking at them on her laptop screen.
Our internet connection at home is rather slow, in fact it is very slow.
If I want to watch a 30-second YouTube clip, for instance, I have to allow two
or three minutes for the buffering to allow the clip to be viewed. Our slow
speed has not prevented the DG from doing her work effectively, but when she is
engaged in a webinar or audio / video conference on her laptop, I am forbidden
to do anything on the internet, in case she loses her signal. I don’t even dare
to make a phone call.
I’m not sure people fully appreciate the sacrifices a Consort sometimes has to make in supporting the DG.
The DG attends a Skype Confereence (note laptop and Ipad mini)
You have survived your first six months very well Mike!!!. where would you like me to pin your Blue Peter Badge? .down hill all the way now. I know the feeling about the clothes, if I left Ron to get ready he would have had a blue striped shirt with green spotty sox..gastly! The house soon gets back to normal with a layer of dust after 1st July. I promise you! x
ReplyDeleteI knew you would understand, Helena. I don't remember colour co-ordination being covered at San Diego, so I am not much help in that department.
DeleteIt came just after seeing that the DG always had a clean 'shirt' and a tank full of 'gas' before they left for a function!!!
ReplyDeleteI must have nodded off at that point. When I woke up they had moved on to 'brushing dandruff from the DG's shoulders'.
ReplyDelete