Yesterday I was reminded of the weekend before classes started last year when I laboriously psyched myself up for the first day of a new school year. It really was a weekend-long project. I just kept telling myself, a new year, a fresh start, brand new excited students at college for the first time. And you know, it worked. I went to work on that first Monday of classes feeling optimistic and with a smile on my face. Only to be told when I got there that I would not be doing the same job I did every other day of the year, but that I would be stuck working probation and dismissal.
Probation and dismissal comes at the end of every semester, of course, and only one person in my office knew how to run the whole process from start to finish. For who knew what reason, last year she decided that I was going to do it from then on instead of her. She lobbied with our supervisor, who agreed. So, instead of greeting excited new students and answering their questions, I was stuck doing a project I knew nothing about and had no interest in learning. Can you guess who got to be the first friendly face who answered all the questions? Oh yeah. The person who dumped her task on me.
I made it clear to her that I was not happy with the situation, and, in fact, told her that there was no point in my learning the process because I would be gone before it had to be done again. Well, it took me longer than one semester to accomplish that, but I am by god not doing it this year, am I? I am also not crying in the restroom like last year wondering how the first day of classes had turned into the worst day of classes for me. And that is a definite improvement.
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