averygoodun42 (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
averygoodun42) wrote2014-12-04 09:49 pm
averygoodun42) wrote2014-12-04 09:49 pm
Are all group projects doomed to make me scream?
I was hopeful that having four adults (genuine adults, not kids-just-out-of-their-parents'-homes-adults) would make for a less stressful project.
Ha.
Holy Hades in Herniation!
3 out of 4 of us are reasonably intelligent, reasonably mature adults. The other, the eldest chronologically, is... not.
She is also the self-imposed nominated leader of this thing because she is "a business management student." And I am guessing she didn't listen to a word the professor of those management classes said...
So.
Where to start?
On the firstday month, there was silence. Well, really, there was a lot of "I have to go right now because I have class just after this one"s For a month.
On the second day... Okay, the second day we were given in-class time to gather, there was an introduction to the topic with a long-winded run-down of what J, the self-appointed leader, experienced for the project. After a half hour she had proven that she wasn't a good listener, was prone to repeating the same words again and again, and was too focused on her part to know what everyone else needed to do. (Perfect management material!) (Oh god, I was joking! That was supposed to be sarcasm!!!)
I had a date with Geoff at 11:00, which was ten minutes after class ended. It was a relatively open pick-up time, but we had lunch to eat and a two hour movie to see before picking up the kid from school, so time was limited. We had been planning this outing for weeks.
At 10:57, when J started repeating things for the fourth time or so (having only grudgingly given in to everyone elses objections about one of her ideas about the details), I stood and made a brief apology, saying I needed to go.
J gave me the sourest look as I departed. Because, yeah. Her time is far more valuable than ours. *nods*
It was a busy day for me, and I wasn't able to sit down and email everyone until that evening, when I sent out this email:
From: Elizabeth
Date: Tue, Nov 25, 2014 at 6:05 PM
Subject: Group Speech: Apologies and was there consensus?
To:
Hi all,
Sorry I had to run out like that. I had an important appointment (and only just now am able to sit down to email).
So, was a time set to meet outside of class or are we meeting virtually?
Have we decided on a division of labor for the research? I'm still not quite sure what there is to do beyond talking to Plymouth Plantation (PP). and the library. If there is something beyond that (which at the time I left, seemed covered by everyone else), please let me know.
If it isn't covered, I can definitely compile the information on the passes the library currently offers, and see if towns other than Manchester offer PP passes.
And a final request: Could everyone please write down what they're doing? I have a terrible memory when it comes to spoken word, and it would also be good to make sure we're covering all the bases.
Thanks, and hope you have a good night!
Elizabeth
And then there was silence. Granted, there was also a major holiday and a major snowstorm that wiped out a quarter of the area's resident's power, so I gave it till Sunday to text J (and everyone else in the group with a slight modification).
Me:
Hey! I sent an email out Tuesday, but don't know if you got it, what with your internet access being shaky. That and Thanksgiving and storm stuff... I'm sorry I had to leave so abruptly on Tues. I was late for an important appt. Please let me know if you can't access your email and I'll sum up my email. :-)
Her: Who is this?
Her (immediately, while I'm still tapping out my name): A name would be nice.
Me: Elizabeth (Surname) from speech class.
Her: Yes I thought so..a name would have been helpful to know for sure.
Her:No I have not seen an email from you .if it wasn't sent to my (email) account and labeled/ flagged so I would have a clue who it was from . .that would be the only way I would get it . So try sending it again to my (email) account ..flag it speech class and I will be able to look at it in an hr or so. ..and yes I'm still having lots of Internet/ computer issues
Me: I sent it from (my email address)
Me: Will do.
Me: Your email is (email) yes?
Her: Yes ..flag it so I'll know it's you and open it ..thank you
So, yes, it was my bad to forget that other people might not use the handy contact features phones have to link numbers and names. Because we all had each other's names and numbers. Including her...
Anyway. I "flagged" the email more conspicuously ("Group Speech: Apologies and was there consensus?" became "Class Group Speech: From Elizabeth")
A bit of communication happened. (We're still working out why the fourth member hasn't got any of the emails...)
Tonight I checked a different but very similarly named email account of mine. This gem of an email was there waiting for me:
Sun, Nov 30, 2014 at 5:36 PM
Hi Elizabeth,
As far as us writing down all our jobs for you, it was something you could have taken notes on in our brief meeting. Its irrelevant, What truly matters, is what your job is, Yes you could briefly list the other passes the Nashua library offers. However there is no need to waste time or energy focusing on the other passes and all they entail.
Our concern is getting the Nashua public library to offer the pass for Plymouth Plantation.
You already offered yourself to do the power point presentation. Are you still willing to do this ? And yes if you wanted to confirm what I already found out, that the only library pass offered in NH for Plymouth Plantation, is through the Manchester library. To the best of my knowledge this is so, and I did do extensive looking for this pass in NH prior to my trip there last week. but yes please do confirm this, it would be a good thing.
Thank you, Joann
...
This woman is well over 50. She's looking to open up her own business when she gets out of school. And, for the good of the project, I have to bite my tongue and not tell her that if I had been a potential customer I would have come away and told all my friends to avoid her at all costs. Because, yeah, the condescending bitch thinks that age equals knowledge (which of course equals power).
Uh-huh.
*breathes*
Maybe she thinks I'm a ditsy twenty-something (because she's proven that she doesn't listen worth a damn, so the numerous hints I've given about my age, like having a 10-year-old son, would have gone over her head). Or else she sees that I am an intelligent, reasonably competent person, and her Southie* back is put right up against what she perceives as an existential threat. I don't know. All I know is that there's only two weeks of school left. And the threat of any more group projects will light a fire under my behind to really study and pass those two CLEPs I need to graduate. Because, yeah. I can live a lot better without this kind of stress.
* She's got a distinct, south-side, Boston accent, though it's at least mellow enough to be intelligible.
But now I need to go do my other class' homework. Which I have been successfully avoiding for two weeks now. Because I hate revision. Oh, do I hate revision. Because it's hard! Ah well. Needs must.
Anyway. Thanks for listening (or not) to me rant. I feel a smidge better for getting a bit of that out.
Hope you have a lovely weekend!
Ha.
Holy Hades in Herniation!
3 out of 4 of us are reasonably intelligent, reasonably mature adults. The other, the eldest chronologically, is... not.
She is also the self-
So.
Where to start?
On the first
On the second day... Okay, the second day we were given in-class time to gather, there was an introduction to the topic with a long-winded run-down of what J, the self-appointed leader, experienced for the project. After a half hour she had proven that she wasn't a good listener, was prone to repeating the same words again and again, and was too focused on her part to know what everyone else needed to do. (Perfect management material!) (Oh god, I was joking! That was supposed to be sarcasm!!!)
I had a date with Geoff at 11:00, which was ten minutes after class ended. It was a relatively open pick-up time, but we had lunch to eat and a two hour movie to see before picking up the kid from school, so time was limited. We had been planning this outing for weeks.
At 10:57, when J started repeating things for the fourth time or so (having only grudgingly given in to everyone elses objections about one of her ideas about the details), I stood and made a brief apology, saying I needed to go.
J gave me the sourest look as I departed. Because, yeah. Her time is far more valuable than ours. *nods*
It was a busy day for me, and I wasn't able to sit down and email everyone until that evening, when I sent out this email:
From: Elizabeth
Date: Tue, Nov 25, 2014 at 6:05 PM
Subject: Group Speech: Apologies and was there consensus?
To:
Hi all,
Sorry I had to run out like that. I had an important appointment (and only just now am able to sit down to email).
So, was a time set to meet outside of class or are we meeting virtually?
Have we decided on a division of labor for the research? I'm still not quite sure what there is to do beyond talking to Plymouth Plantation (PP). and the library. If there is something beyond that (which at the time I left, seemed covered by everyone else), please let me know.
If it isn't covered, I can definitely compile the information on the passes the library currently offers, and see if towns other than Manchester offer PP passes.
And a final request: Could everyone please write down what they're doing? I have a terrible memory when it comes to spoken word, and it would also be good to make sure we're covering all the bases.
Thanks, and hope you have a good night!
Elizabeth
And then there was silence. Granted, there was also a major holiday and a major snowstorm that wiped out a quarter of the area's resident's power, so I gave it till Sunday to text J (and everyone else in the group with a slight modification).
Me:
Hey! I sent an email out Tuesday, but don't know if you got it, what with your internet access being shaky. That and Thanksgiving and storm stuff... I'm sorry I had to leave so abruptly on Tues. I was late for an important appt. Please let me know if you can't access your email and I'll sum up my email. :-)
Her: Who is this?
Her (immediately, while I'm still tapping out my name): A name would be nice.
Me: Elizabeth (Surname) from speech class.
Her: Yes I thought so..a name would have been helpful to know for sure.
Her:No I have not seen an email from you .if it wasn't sent to my (email) account and labeled/ flagged so I would have a clue who it was from . .that would be the only way I would get it . So try sending it again to my (email) account ..flag it speech class and I will be able to look at it in an hr or so. ..and yes I'm still having lots of Internet/ computer issues
Me: I sent it from (my email address)
Me: Will do.
Me: Your email is (email) yes?
Her: Yes ..flag it so I'll know it's you and open it ..thank you
So, yes, it was my bad to forget that other people might not use the handy contact features phones have to link numbers and names. Because we all had each other's names and numbers. Including her...
Anyway. I "flagged" the email more conspicuously ("Group Speech: Apologies and was there consensus?" became "Class Group Speech: From Elizabeth")
A bit of communication happened. (We're still working out why the fourth member hasn't got any of the emails...)
Tonight I checked a different but very similarly named email account of mine. This gem of an email was there waiting for me:
Sun, Nov 30, 2014 at 5:36 PM
Hi Elizabeth,
As far as us writing down all our jobs for you, it was something you could have taken notes on in our brief meeting. Its irrelevant, What truly matters, is what your job is, Yes you could briefly list the other passes the Nashua library offers. However there is no need to waste time or energy focusing on the other passes and all they entail.
Our concern is getting the Nashua public library to offer the pass for Plymouth Plantation.
You already offered yourself to do the power point presentation. Are you still willing to do this ? And yes if you wanted to confirm what I already found out, that the only library pass offered in NH for Plymouth Plantation, is through the Manchester library. To the best of my knowledge this is so, and I did do extensive looking for this pass in NH prior to my trip there last week. but yes please do confirm this, it would be a good thing.
Thank you, Joann
...
This woman is well over 50. She's looking to open up her own business when she gets out of school. And, for the good of the project, I have to bite my tongue and not tell her that if I had been a potential customer I would have come away and told all my friends to avoid her at all costs. Because, yeah, the condescending bitch thinks that age equals knowledge (which of course equals power).
Uh-huh.
*breathes*
Maybe she thinks I'm a ditsy twenty-something (because she's proven that she doesn't listen worth a damn, so the numerous hints I've given about my age, like having a 10-year-old son, would have gone over her head). Or else she sees that I am an intelligent, reasonably competent person, and her Southie* back is put right up against what she perceives as an existential threat. I don't know. All I know is that there's only two weeks of school left. And the threat of any more group projects will light a fire under my behind to really study and pass those two CLEPs I need to graduate. Because, yeah. I can live a lot better without this kind of stress.
* She's got a distinct, south-side, Boston accent, though it's at least mellow enough to be intelligible.
But now I need to go do my other class' homework. Which I have been successfully avoiding for two weeks now. Because I hate revision. Oh, do I hate revision. Because it's hard! Ah well. Needs must.
Anyway. Thanks for listening (or not) to me rant. I feel a smidge better for getting a bit of that out.
Hope you have a lovely weekend!