Tales From the Crypt
As has been mentioned before the office that I'm at now is exceptionally quiet. It does get its share of action, though, and I've been running around lately trying to meet a deadline and having to deal with 800 mostly clueless adults trying to register for continuing education classes.
In the past few months I've been surprised by people simply not reading the application, leaving important information unfilled-in, blythly sending in applications three weeks past the deadline, asking us to "just put in the right amount" on their credit card payment forms (which, besides being illegal, is just really dumb), and tallying up their payments wrong (did I mention they want to be accountants?)
I've been shocked at the level of sheer idiocy of some of the applicants, wondering how these people have gotten so far in life without falling into an open sewer grate or accidentally electrocuting themselves on lamps. These people are adults, some of them quite mature students and they act like helpless children in many of the interactions I've had with them. This is not grade school, it's post post-secondary school. By now you should be able to figure stuff out on your own and take some responsibility for the course of your own life. I'm not your damn mother!
Today's email really brought that home to me. It was from someone who I had sent all of the location details of their course, the time, the dates, what to prepare with before class, etc. etc. His reply email said, "thanks for the info. just wondering if I should bag a lunch for these sessions? is there a place to buy coffee / snacks inside the facility?"
Now, the question about if there's a place to buy stuff is understandable I guess. Still, it's not really the responsibility of the person who's registering 800 people in 9 different locations to tell each and every one of them what fucking restaurants are around each of the courses, especially since that person's never actually been to any of the locations herself. Still, I can see someone wondering about that. It was really the whole "should I bag a lunch?" bit that got me.
Why am I answering this question for you? There are factors that I just can't know about in the making of this decision. Do you think you might get hungry enough for lunch? If there is somewhere to buy your lunch, can you even afford to buy it? Do you have food allergies that might come into play? Can you be trusted with a kitchen knife while making a sandwich at home? Many things that I cannot possibly know the answer to.
I so wanted to pull a strongbadian DE-LETED! on his email, but since I could not I hope my answer wasn't too patronizing. I said that I didn't know as I hadn't actually been there myself, but since it was a University campus located in downtown Toronto I would imagine there would be a place to buy food and coffee. I advised that he take something just in case, and when he actually got there he could assess the situation more fully at that time. I also advised that he take his warm woolies as it might get a touch chilly later in the day and reminded him to look both ways before crossing the street. Then I kissed him on the head and told him to brush his teeth, get on his jim-jams and hop into beddie-bye. Tomorrow's going to be a big day after all!
*sigh* Yeah, I'm thinking perhaps I let these little things get to me too much. That's why I like to take a break every now and then and play a fun little game that's supposed to be for kids but makes me feel like a big moron.
After a few rounds of that I feel I can really relate to the students a lot more.
In the past few months I've been surprised by people simply not reading the application, leaving important information unfilled-in, blythly sending in applications three weeks past the deadline, asking us to "just put in the right amount" on their credit card payment forms (which, besides being illegal, is just really dumb), and tallying up their payments wrong (did I mention they want to be accountants?)
I've been shocked at the level of sheer idiocy of some of the applicants, wondering how these people have gotten so far in life without falling into an open sewer grate or accidentally electrocuting themselves on lamps. These people are adults, some of them quite mature students and they act like helpless children in many of the interactions I've had with them. This is not grade school, it's post post-secondary school. By now you should be able to figure stuff out on your own and take some responsibility for the course of your own life. I'm not your damn mother!
Today's email really brought that home to me. It was from someone who I had sent all of the location details of their course, the time, the dates, what to prepare with before class, etc. etc. His reply email said, "thanks for the info. just wondering if I should bag a lunch for these sessions? is there a place to buy coffee / snacks inside the facility?"
Now, the question about if there's a place to buy stuff is understandable I guess. Still, it's not really the responsibility of the person who's registering 800 people in 9 different locations to tell each and every one of them what fucking restaurants are around each of the courses, especially since that person's never actually been to any of the locations herself. Still, I can see someone wondering about that. It was really the whole "should I bag a lunch?" bit that got me.
Why am I answering this question for you? There are factors that I just can't know about in the making of this decision. Do you think you might get hungry enough for lunch? If there is somewhere to buy your lunch, can you even afford to buy it? Do you have food allergies that might come into play? Can you be trusted with a kitchen knife while making a sandwich at home? Many things that I cannot possibly know the answer to.
I so wanted to pull a strongbadian DE-LETED! on his email, but since I could not I hope my answer wasn't too patronizing. I said that I didn't know as I hadn't actually been there myself, but since it was a University campus located in downtown Toronto I would imagine there would be a place to buy food and coffee. I advised that he take something just in case, and when he actually got there he could assess the situation more fully at that time. I also advised that he take his warm woolies as it might get a touch chilly later in the day and reminded him to look both ways before crossing the street. Then I kissed him on the head and told him to brush his teeth, get on his jim-jams and hop into beddie-bye. Tomorrow's going to be a big day after all!
*sigh* Yeah, I'm thinking perhaps I let these little things get to me too much. That's why I like to take a break every now and then and play a fun little game that's supposed to be for kids but makes me feel like a big moron.
After a few rounds of that I feel I can really relate to the students a lot more.
posted by Alanis at
9:39 AM
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