Conferences: What a waste of time

I know. Teachers shouldn't say things like that. But the truth of the matter is that conferences at the high school level are a complete waste of my time. For the last two nights I've been sitting either at a table in the gym or in my classroom waiting for parents to show up. I saw a grand total of three in the combined six hours. I don't know about other teachers, but I have a lot of contact with the parents of my students. In some cases more than either the parent or student wish. And I don't care if I am getting comped the day before Thanksgiving for the time wasted during the last two evenings, I had many other things I could've been doing.