At my college each term is responsible for fund-raising enough money to have an after grad party. The college pays for the ceremony and the location, but if we want a dinner and dance, we have to cough up our own dough. Fair enough. Every term fund-raises throughout their time at the college in order to do this. Bear that in mind.
Scene: my term's fund-raising pancake breakfast. I am flipping pancakes at a bar line of griddles. Students are walking through, filling up plates and either staying or exiting to eat.
Enter Large Bossy Blonde who proceeds to make announcement of another term's fund-raising valentines. Exit Large Bossy Blonde.
30 minutes pass. Pancakes continue to be sold.
Re-enter LBB. Further loud announcements of the other fundraiser. From the location of the griddle I speak loudly:
"Have you bought any pancakes?"
"No. I'm on a diet. That's why."
I resume flipping. LBB leaves. The breakfast wraps up. We clean up. We go to our next class. I get hauled out of class by Super Student Services Lady. She feels she needs to have a talk with me about professionalism in the school. She heard a report that I was snappish and rude with one of the other students. She stresses that if I'm going to make a humorous remark that I need to ensure that it is more obviously humorous so as to not offend people. She restates the policy that more than one term can fund raise at the same time as long as it is not the same activity. She expresses how shocked she was that this report came against me since I'm so sweet. (The college only has 100 students, max - this woman knows me personally.)
Her sweetness is false, put-on, and stickily uncomfortable.
I want to squirm away.
It may be true that the college I attend has a fantastic reputation for graduates passing the provincial board exams, but I am becoming increasingly unimpressed with the amount of bureaucratic pickle-up-the-ass red tape. I mean, come on people. That was in no way aggressive or nasty. I said it with a smile on my face and in a friendly tone. If she's going to come into our fundraiser to try to get money for her term, then surely I have a right to ask her to contribute to ours! Yet student services comes and reprimands me without even pausing to consider my perspective? And is this going on my record?
Sigh.
1 comment:
If they're so concerned about professionalism, then LBB (I'm assuming it was her) should have been told that she needed to speak with you directly instead of running tattling to Student Services.
Just like I do to the toddlers. "Have to told Suzie you didn't like that? Go tell her."
Or, if they truly desire that their students learn professional behaviour, they should have suggested you both come in and work it through in a professional manner -- with the student services staffperson guiding you through the process if necessary.
Allowing one student to tattle on the other, and reprimanding the first student without giving them a hearing? Where's the professionalism in that?
Post a Comment