Rubber doesn't rot when it stays wet, leather does.

Did your family actually admit you were right, or did they just mutter about it? A buddy of mine did the same thing on a camping trip in the Cascades, brought his old Nokia while the rest of us fought over the one working outlet in the cabin. He ended up being the only one who could call the ranger station when a branch took out the power line. The rest of us had fancy phones turned into paperweights by day two. He still brings that thing everywhere and honestly nobody gives him grief about it anymore.

Sure, finishing a book shouldn't be a requirement to have a say, but if you're asking a board to pull it, you should at least know what's in it. Reading one page out loud and calling it a case is weak, and it makes it easy for people to write off the whole complaint.