You don't know how close you are to the truth here. When I was on vestry, we always began our meetings with a happy hour. Our old rector would bring out a bottle of Macallan's Scotch and pour each of us a glass. Then we'd start after we had sufficient time for "attitude adjustment". We hardly felt the pain.....
That was probably the only way anybody could get through it without having an outbreak of homicidal rage. Or a raging fit of the giggles.