Giant Steps in Giant Shoes
A big part of starting college is taking a giant step into adulthood. It is putting away childish ideas and notions and learning to fin for ones self. Students who are right out of high school find this process very daunting and they often bring their poarents with them to this first giant step, lest they falter and fall on their pouty little faces. This is not bad because most of the time, the parents have to sign for loans or make arrangements for other financing. Any student over 24 is considered independent and able to stand on their own two feet. Which brings me to my rant.
I had a guest yesterday who came to the office to make arrangments for his financial aid. He came by him self, which is a step in the right direction. He was too old to have his parents sign for anything anyway, meaning he was over twenty-four. So, the first thing he did was ask for a cup of coffee because, bad finanacial aid lady that I am, I MADE him get up early to come to the office to sign papers.
Sidebar: In my own defense, I chase after these students in an attempt to set up appointments, calling cell phones, calling home phones, calling friend's phones, I finally get them on the line or get them to return a call and then I give them the choice of days or times to come in to see us. The ten in the morning appointment was his own choice because, as he told me on the phone, "I don't want to screw with the finanacial aid stuff all day."
Mr. Smarty-pants didn't have any of the things done that have to be done before coming to the financial aid office. There are several things that must be done online and this process can take as long as an hour, which is why we prefer to have this done ahead of time. I allowed him to sit at my computer where he could do what he was supposed to have done at home but didn't because he was "playing Halo," to quote him. Alrighty, then.
While sitting at my computer, using my keyboard and mouse, he starts coughing and hacking and sneezing and sniffing. Then, calls me into the office and says, "Bring me a tissue." No please. No niceties at all.
Okay. Have you ever had one of those moments when you get the really sharp pain right between your shoulder blades and your eyes start to glaze over in a bloody shade of red and you feel like your head is going to burst open? If you have, then you know my reaction to this scenario.
Two things I need to point out: First, I have a box of tissues on my desk and Little Lord Fauntleroy simply had to reach over and grab one. Secondly, his majesty had to walk past the bathroom where there is a multitude of paper products that can be used to blow one's nose. Because I saw him leaving that particular room on his way to my office, I know he knows the location of the bathroom.
Then, he adds, "I need some cream for my coffee." That did it.
"Look, kid. I am your financial aid lady. Not your bitch. The cream for the coffee is right over there next to the coffee pot. There are tissues right there on the desk or you can walk to the bathroom and grab a handful of toilet paper. Then, you come back here and finish this stuff online that should have been done before you got here. So put on your Big Boy Boxers and deal with it. You have wasted enough of my time, already."
He did as I requested. Well, he got his own cream and his own tissue. As for the Big Boy Boxers, I doubt it. He was pouting way too much when he left.
A coworker brought a container of Clorox Disinfecting wipes to me so I could remove all the communicable diseases the boy was carrying and spreading across my desk and my computer. Once everything was clean and shining, I felt safe going back into my office. CW says, "Too bad they won't let us spank these kids because some of them sure need it."
The Big Boss has on office right outside mine and she says to us, "If you spank someone like that kid, I promise not to tell. In fact, I will swear in court that it never happened... right after I spank the parents for letting their kids act that way in the first place. I was glad you finally said something, Kay Four. He was getting on MY nerves. I can't imagine how much he was getting on you's."
Cool. I have permission to use corporal punishment. A dream come true.
I had a guest yesterday who came to the office to make arrangments for his financial aid. He came by him self, which is a step in the right direction. He was too old to have his parents sign for anything anyway, meaning he was over twenty-four. So, the first thing he did was ask for a cup of coffee because, bad finanacial aid lady that I am, I MADE him get up early to come to the office to sign papers.
Sidebar: In my own defense, I chase after these students in an attempt to set up appointments, calling cell phones, calling home phones, calling friend's phones, I finally get them on the line or get them to return a call and then I give them the choice of days or times to come in to see us. The ten in the morning appointment was his own choice because, as he told me on the phone, "I don't want to screw with the finanacial aid stuff all day."
Mr. Smarty-pants didn't have any of the things done that have to be done before coming to the financial aid office. There are several things that must be done online and this process can take as long as an hour, which is why we prefer to have this done ahead of time. I allowed him to sit at my computer where he could do what he was supposed to have done at home but didn't because he was "playing Halo," to quote him. Alrighty, then.
While sitting at my computer, using my keyboard and mouse, he starts coughing and hacking and sneezing and sniffing. Then, calls me into the office and says, "Bring me a tissue." No please. No niceties at all.
Okay. Have you ever had one of those moments when you get the really sharp pain right between your shoulder blades and your eyes start to glaze over in a bloody shade of red and you feel like your head is going to burst open? If you have, then you know my reaction to this scenario.
Two things I need to point out: First, I have a box of tissues on my desk and Little Lord Fauntleroy simply had to reach over and grab one. Secondly, his majesty had to walk past the bathroom where there is a multitude of paper products that can be used to blow one's nose. Because I saw him leaving that particular room on his way to my office, I know he knows the location of the bathroom.
Then, he adds, "I need some cream for my coffee." That did it.
"Look, kid. I am your financial aid lady. Not your bitch. The cream for the coffee is right over there next to the coffee pot. There are tissues right there on the desk or you can walk to the bathroom and grab a handful of toilet paper. Then, you come back here and finish this stuff online that should have been done before you got here. So put on your Big Boy Boxers and deal with it. You have wasted enough of my time, already."
He did as I requested. Well, he got his own cream and his own tissue. As for the Big Boy Boxers, I doubt it. He was pouting way too much when he left.
A coworker brought a container of Clorox Disinfecting wipes to me so I could remove all the communicable diseases the boy was carrying and spreading across my desk and my computer. Once everything was clean and shining, I felt safe going back into my office. CW says, "Too bad they won't let us spank these kids because some of them sure need it."
The Big Boss has on office right outside mine and she says to us, "If you spank someone like that kid, I promise not to tell. In fact, I will swear in court that it never happened... right after I spank the parents for letting their kids act that way in the first place. I was glad you finally said something, Kay Four. He was getting on MY nerves. I can't imagine how much he was getting on you's."
Cool. I have permission to use corporal punishment. A dream come true.
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