Today I opened Circumstances of Childhood randomly to page 159. With eyes closed, I pointed to the page, and the word closest to my finger is “meetings.” This is our prompt today.
Meetings by John W. Howell © 2026
“Why do we always have to have meetings?”
“Beats me. Maybe it’s so the boss has something to do.”
“That is pretty funny.”
“But close to the truth. When’s the last time you saw him do anything?”
“Productive, you mean?”
“Ha ha ha. I mean, just anything. Productive is too high a bar.”
“Let me think. Oh, I know. Remember when he invited us to go hunting?”
“Yeah, I remember. He crashed through the bush and scared all the game away for five miles.”
“That was some day for sure.”
“I think I was talking about doing something that didn’t mess things up.”
“I think you got me. I can’t remember a time when he didn’t mess things up.”
“So what is this meeting about?”
“Rumor is he is going to introduce a new strategy.”
“Strategy for what?”
“I’m not really sure. I just heard two guys talking.”
“So you must have heard more.”
“Well, it seems he thinks we lions ought to be the hunters and the lionesses ought to stay home.”
“You have got to be kidding me. That’s not going to work. He should know from that hunting trip.”
“Well, maybe it’s just a rumor.”
“I hope so. I’m not sure I could even catch anything. I can almost feel my stomach growling now.”
“Well, we will know in a minute. Here he comes.”
Fiction Favorites 
‘Sees word ‘meetings’ while on Winter Break’. Ironic thing is that Tuesday is the day there are meetings at my job. I feel like I should take this personally. 😀
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Ha ha ha. Must be my clairvoyant gene at work.
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Excellent job, John! I wasn’t expecting lions. Nice twist with this one…not that it would ever happen in real life. Everyone knows those lionesses are the best hunters. 😉
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Yes, they are. The lion would be dumb to interfere
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No point upsetting the natural flow of things. The females are better hunters anyway. 😉
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I found that to be true in my house. 😊
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Buahahahaha! This is so perfect, John! The boss who lies around doing nothing whilst his lionesses do all the work…
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Yup. We have seen stuff like that for sure. Thanks, Dale.
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Far too often!
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😊
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A best chosen episode, John! It shows the essence of all (animal) living. 😉 Best wishes, Michael
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Thank you, Michael. Best to you as well
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Woo hoo! I guessed ‘big cats’–close enough for me.
‘Productive is too high a bar’–such a great line. Am I ever glad to be retired after reading this. Meetings…grrr-rr. Biggest waste of time ever!
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I know, right? I used to love the group call kind of meetings where you are one minute over, and the chair says, “Any more questions? The dweeb brown nose always asked a question like “Can you explain how you are so good at figuring out all these problems, boss?”
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Hilarious. We watched a male lion jut lying around in Africa while his mate brought him something to eat! You got me, though, I was thinking wolves.
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Wolves would have been nice. Maybe next time. Thanks, Noelle.
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Or panthers and pumas?
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Mum hum.
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That would sure be a significant change, for the lionesses to stay home while the males hunt.
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It would be a change to see the lions do anything. Thanks, Tim
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Eh, sometimes you just have to shake the fleas off.
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And go get ’em. Thanks, Craig
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I sure didn’t guess lions, John! Something tells me these guys would do better (and perhaps eat more) if they left the serious hunting to the ladies.
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I think so too. Thanks, Debbie.
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That just about covers meetings in general. 😁 Great job, John!
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Thank you, Jan.
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Good one, John. You had me going. The boss seemed mighty familiar.
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I thought so, too. Thanks, Dan. 😊
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Lion bosses sound an awful lot like human bosses. I feel for the pride.
I remember pissing off a former boss one time when I referred to our meetings as glorified coffee breaks. I was only being half serious, seeing as how the other half was a glorified smoking break.
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Yeah, that would piss off a boss.
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I was not a favorite.
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Most creative people aren’t
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Oh well. 😉
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I never guessed lions! That boss sure sure sounded familiar, though.
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Didn’t he? I had one that was the model. 😀
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I had a boss that was the same. Just awful.
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I think we all have had at least one of those.
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I had more than one, unfortunately.
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Yeah, that, too.
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The references to bad hunter made me guess it was about Dick Cheney, but Ha ha Lions, I did not expect that.
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Good one on Dick Cheney. It could also have been Tim Walz. 😀
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Ha ha you are right
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😊
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Always good laughs and surprises to wake up to, John!
🦁
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Thank you, Ciindy.
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Question: When you have “meetings” of some importance at your house, say with your wife, do your dogs join in? Mine seems to sense the seriousness and consider it a family thing!
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Ours never leave our side. It’s a Frenchie trait. They have to be with us all the time, so the answer is, yes.
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Didn’t know that. Ours seems to love being involved in family decisions.
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I’m sure it gives them comfort to be included in pack decisions. 😀
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I feel for the lions! My boss tended to use meetings to pass on work to already overworked staff. Productive for her maybe, not so much for the rest of us 😉
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I had one like that. Thanks, Marie.
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Hi, John. Is P.T. Barnum the boss?
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Could well be Neil.
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Haha! That was great, John.
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😊
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