Final Exams and Cutting Line
My first round of finals starts today and will run through the middle of next week. I hope to have final grades turned in no later than the 11th. I then have two articles that I've agreed to finish between the 11th and January 3rd. That shouldn't be too difficult but it will certainly take time away from blogging. These are for a reference work on graphic novels and my articles will deal with two such works, Bloodstar, based on a Robert E. Howard story, and A. D. New Orleans After the Deluge, which is about Hurricane Katrina. The upshot is that I won't be around the blogosphere as much as usual for a while, although I'm not abandoning it, of course.
Speaking of finals, I have to relate an experience I had yesterday. I generally eat at the school lunch room and it isn't unusual for there to be some standing in line involved. I frequently get irritated at the students who cut in line in front of others. I sometimes say something and at other times don't, depending on how far from the cut I am. Yesterday, I'd been standing in line for quite a while and was finally only two people back from being served when a student in one of my classes cut in front of me. I was somewhat taken aback but did mutter in a loud voice, "Oh come on." The student did not make eye contact, and in fact I'm pretty sure she never even noticed I was there. I've realized through other dealings with the student that she is extremely self-centered and seldom notices anyone unless they can do something for her at that moment.
This student will certainly get the grade she earns in my class, but this isn't the first time I've seen her take short cuts and be inconsiderate of others. Although I doubt she will ask me for a letter of recommendation, if she did I would have to say no. It's certainly not just the frequent cutting in line and inconsideration, but includes cutting corners in classes she's had with me that makes me feel this way. Yesterday too, for example, she came to my morning class about five minutes late, (early for her), and after bumbling around disrupting the class while she got settled, she asked me a question I had actually been covering in the moments when she was trying to get to her seat. The look on her face when she asked the question seemed clearly to indicate that I was confusing her with my unclear presentation on the topic. Although I answered her politely, I must admit to a touch of irritation. And I thought to myself that there's no way I'd feel comfortable recommending her for graduate school where she might eventually become responsible for other people's welfare. Maturity and empathy for others counts.
And now for some happier thoughts, I'm putting up the links below to some books I'm hoping a certain loved one of mine will buy new for me for Christmas. She knows who she is and would never cut in line in front of me. :)
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Speaking of finals, I have to relate an experience I had yesterday. I generally eat at the school lunch room and it isn't unusual for there to be some standing in line involved. I frequently get irritated at the students who cut in line in front of others. I sometimes say something and at other times don't, depending on how far from the cut I am. Yesterday, I'd been standing in line for quite a while and was finally only two people back from being served when a student in one of my classes cut in front of me. I was somewhat taken aback but did mutter in a loud voice, "Oh come on." The student did not make eye contact, and in fact I'm pretty sure she never even noticed I was there. I've realized through other dealings with the student that she is extremely self-centered and seldom notices anyone unless they can do something for her at that moment.
This student will certainly get the grade she earns in my class, but this isn't the first time I've seen her take short cuts and be inconsiderate of others. Although I doubt she will ask me for a letter of recommendation, if she did I would have to say no. It's certainly not just the frequent cutting in line and inconsideration, but includes cutting corners in classes she's had with me that makes me feel this way. Yesterday too, for example, she came to my morning class about five minutes late, (early for her), and after bumbling around disrupting the class while she got settled, she asked me a question I had actually been covering in the moments when she was trying to get to her seat. The look on her face when she asked the question seemed clearly to indicate that I was confusing her with my unclear presentation on the topic. Although I answered her politely, I must admit to a touch of irritation. And I thought to myself that there's no way I'd feel comfortable recommending her for graduate school where she might eventually become responsible for other people's welfare. Maturity and empathy for others counts.
And now for some happier thoughts, I'm putting up the links below to some books I'm hoping a certain loved one of mine will buy new for me for Christmas. She knows who she is and would never cut in line in front of me. :)
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