There were 5 people present at the meeting, which was a little disappointing. For those of you who weren't there, we know who you are. Appropriate measures will be taken.
We started with introductions along with the question: What was the last movie you saw? The movies mentioned were: Fury, The Grand Budapest Hotel, The Hunger Games, American Sniper & Rome, Open City. The member who saw American Sniper said it was very inspiring & made you "want to sign up." Another member said he read the book from which the movie was made, & was hesitant to see the movie as he thought a lot of "politically incorrect" parts of the book would be left out of the movie. This same member traveled to the NuArt theater in LA to see Rome, Open City. The movie was made in 1945, & the background is the brief "occupation" of Rome by German forces in 1944. It's in Italian with sub-titles. A great movie! If you get a chance, go see it. (That's an order.)
Next there was a discussion topic: Could a person who stutters be elected president of the United States? The idea was to bring out other aspects of stuttering such as: Can a person exude confidence while stuttering? How do we think other people see us or think about us when we stutter? How much prejudice is there toward people who stutter? Is effective communication lessened by stuttering?
Of more practical interest: How would the debates be done? - Would the stuttering candidate be given more time? Could a stuttering president effectively deal with foreign leaders? Would the image of a stuttering commander in chief of the most powerful military force on earth be compromised? We talked a little bit about all of these. Three members said that yes, it was certainly possible for a person who stutters to be elected POTUS. The point was brought out that one can still communicate ideas even while stuttering. Another member said he didn't think a person who stutters could make it through all of the nominating process, debates, etc.
We talked a little bit about the possibility of attending the meetings via Skype. There's a member who usually can't make it to the meetings in person, and wants to explore the Skype idea. One of the more technically minded members is going to look into this. Also, this same member is going to look into the idea of our group having a Facebook presence.
That's all for now. Next meeting is on March 12, led by fearless leader Matt. Be there, or bring a note from your doctor.
