Happy hump day, dear friends.
By the way, why is it called hump day? I’m not a native but I had this idea that hump…uh…meant something else…
Anyway.
Yesterday was not a very good day. sigh.
Remember I had a dentist’s appointment? Well, It was supposed to be at 3.30 p.m. When I scheduled it, the options were very limited and I told the front desk lady it was maybe too late for me because I had to be at work by 4 p.m (work is 5 minutes from the clinic). She told me it would be fine, a cleaning does not take over 30 minutes and that I could come at 3.20 p.m and, if it was taking too long, I could tell them I needed to go to work and they would rush or push forward my appointment.
As I am such a good girl, I got there at 3.20 p.m, like I was told.
I sat there and waited.
At about 10 minutes to 4 p.m (I had told my boss I would be late and it was fine) I went to the front desk and asked the receptionist why it was taking so long and mentioned that I needed to be at work soon.
She looked at me and said: “Oh, do you have an appointment today?”
I said: “Yes, I do. I scheduled it a week ago. For 3.30 p.m”
Random lady: “It’s not possible, I have a 3.30 p.m appointment”
Me: “Uh, but I schedule mine last week, how is it possible?”
Receptionist: “I do remember talking to you but I seem to have forgotten to write down your appointment.”
Me: “What? I have been waiting for 30 minutes and I am going to be late for work.”
Receptionist: “Sorry, we’re behind so the doctor won’t be able to see you today”
Me: (Getting pretty mad) ” I have been sitting here for so long and I’m going to be late for work and now you tell me I don’t have an appointment?”
Receptionist: “Sorry, this lady was scheduled for 3.30 p.m and has yet to be seen. We really cannot see you today”
Me: “Okay, fine. I need a paper saying I was here so I can justify being late for work”
Receptionist: “Okay, there you go. Would you like to schedule an appointment for Friday?”
Me: “No.”
Receptionist: “Are you sure? We have openings on Friday.”
Me: “No, I’ll call if I decide to schedule an appointment”
And I left, pretty pissed as you can imagine. I even considered writing a complaint on their complaints book but I was late already. I’m not a difficult client/customer. I never complain and I’m usually patient, even when people make mistakes. This time, I was very mad.
What would you do?
Do you think I should be patient and understanding and forgive her mistake?
Do you think I was right and should have complained?
What type of customer are you? Have you ever been in a similar situation?
Then I got to work, and my students were being particularly difficult, which added pressure to my day.
They asked me if they could listen to some music while they were doing some exercises. I don’t usually let them but I decided I would open an exception if the worked silently.
These two kids were listening to music and kept talking. I kept telling them to be quiet and they would say “we were not even talking”. Well, I’m neither blind nor deaf. I knew they were talking and they kept at it.
At some point, one of them decided to grab his phone and show a YouTube video to one of his colleagues. I took his cellphone and told him it was not okay and that he could no longer listen to music. I looked at the phone and the video he was showing was inappropriate and showed someone giving the middle finger.
I told him I would keep his cellphone and we would have to go and talk to the head teacher and talk to his parents because he had gone way too far.
He kept being rude and disrespectful and saying he had not done anything wrong. He proceeded to behave more than badly and to try his best to get on my nerves. When I called him out on his actions, he would be extremely rude and talk back and say he was not talking or doing anything wrong. I told him he could not talk back and that he needed to respect me. He could care less. He spent the whole time “bullying” me and making sure his colleagues where watching it.
When we were finished I did exactly what I told him I would do and took him to the head teacher and explained the situation. She was very mad and told them it was not okay to disrespect me and that she would talk to their parents. She told them that if they were unable to respect the rules they could no longer be our students and made them apologize.
I went back to my classroom and my colleague, a much older teacher with 40+ years of experience and very different methods decided to talk to me and say it was actually my fault. She meant well and was not offensive but sad I was too nice.
In her opinion I should not smile so much, not call them “dear or honey”, make no jokes, give no snacks. She said I was buying them with cookies, which I’m obviously not. I bought cookies for my living room because they always say they are hungry and I get worried if I have nothing to give them, so I keep cookies, crackers, apples and pears.
I understand what she means. I’m nice, maternal, informal, but that is my method and it had always been. I try to be nice enough so they respect me, not because they are afraid or bored but because they like me and know I respect and like them. It works with most of them, but then there are one or two kids who take advantage of my calm demeanor and laid-back attitude.
Am I wrong? Should I be meaner?
Is it my fault when they disrespect me?
Is her method the right one?
I was nervous because I was having a bad day, stressed out and hurt because of the kid’s actions and feeling defeated because of my colleague’s words. So I sat in my classroom and cried. I never thought I would cry because of my students. But I did, and felt like a cliché. The abused, crying, frustrated teacher.
What a shitty day.
My back was absolutely killing me and I was very tired.
I got home and went straight to bed. I didn’t even watch and episode or two of a show as I normally do. Then I woke up 3 times during the night. Oh my. I hope today is better. My back is killing me already. Thank God I have an orthopedic’s appointment tomorrow.
Anyway, I still had a to-do list to complete. Let’s check it now.
TO-DO LIST – 17/10/2017
- Write the damn article and apologize to my client because I’m late; – I wrote it and sent it to my client. Done.
- Tell my sister she’s getting all of my skin care products I was using before. Her skin is dry and sensitive so they will work for her; – Forgot to talk to her.
- Make a few work decisions; – I did.
- Talk to Amazon customer service AGAIN; – I did and I seem to be making some progress. My issues are not solved at all yet though.
- Check our grocery budget; – No. I forgot to ask a certain guy for the numbers I needed for the 5th time. If you’re reading this, damn you Rui.
- Plan a trip to Starbucks to try the famous pumpkin spice latter; – I forgot to talk to mister about it.
- Continue to read Dragonfly in Amber, book 3 from the Outlander series by Diana Gabaldon; – I did read about 2 chapters.
- See if IT is already available to watch online; – Checked. It’s not. #pirateproblems
- Pick up book number 2 of two series I started in the last few weeks; – Forgot to buy the kindle version. Or maybe I am unconsciously staying away from it because I am cheap and don’t want to pay $4 for a kindle book.
- Read a few posts and comment; – I wish.
- Work from 4 p.m to 8 p.m; – I finished early, at 7 p.m. My 7 p.m student did not come.
- Find reviewers for a book; – I am still looking but have found about 5.
To-do List – 18/10/2017
- Tell my sister about the skin care products I no longer use and am passing on to her. I want to get rid of it and they will be good for her skin. There’s an eye cream, a day cream with 20 SPF (her skin is a few tones darker than mine so 20 is enough for her), a night cream which is extremely moisturizing (she has very dry skin), a cleanser and some micellar water. She’s basically winning the lottery lol;
- Show my students how angry I am and be mean for a few days, so they can see how their actions have consequences. The whole class is paying for the bad behavior because, when you are part of a group, everyone’s actions affect the whole group. Maybe they’ll learn something from this;
- Write a second article for the same client as yesterday;
- Answer a few customers (about the things I sell)
- Please, please, please let me have the strength to clean my bathroom;
- Read a few blogs and answer comments. Seriously!
- Decide if I’ll make another dental appointment. If I didn’t like the dentist so much I would never go back there, but she is the best doctor I have ever met (when it comes to dentists);
- Get my umbrella from the garage because it’s raining I might need it;
- Change our sheets;
- Work from 2.30 p.m to 6 p.m;
- Trim the my hair ends, fix my eyebrows a little, maybe wax?
Very important question:
Girls, do you maintain your normal grooming routines in Winter?
Do you get a pedicure and wax as you do in warmer months?
I need to know how many of you are lazy like me.
I guess I’m done for today.
Love you, guys.
Pink for Days 
I’m a ‘lazy’ one with beauty in the winter months too, barely even see any exposed skin as I struggle so much with the cold! I do tend to do more with my face though in terms of exfoliating, cleansing, masks, moisturising… I think my skin gets negatively affected by the winter more than the summer.x
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Hump day! As in… Getting over the hump/hill in the middle of the week. We are on the descend to Friday!
I would forgive the receptionist for her mistake, but I would not go back to that particular dentist. I understand that mistakes happen, but people seem to forget that other people’s time is valuable and important. If you tell her that it is fine, no problem, she will not understand that she wasted your time and made you late to work.
Lastly, I live in Louisiana, so it is notoriously warmer here in the winter than in other northern states. So unfortunately I have to keep the razor handy! But let me tell you, when we DO get cold weather, I do not rush to keep my legs and feet looking pretty!
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I love that particular doctor so I decided I am going back. But I’m definitely letting her know what happened and talk to the receptionist about it too, now that I’m not mad, just a bit upset.
I always think I want to be the kind of woman with a perfect pedicure all year round and hairless body but then, if I think about it in terms of real life, I spend half the year in boots and pants/opaque tights/leggings.
Why spend either 2 hours (if I do it myself) or $20 a month on my feet if nobody is going to see them but me and my partner, who has obviously seen my in my absolute worst and doesn’t even care.
Same with shaving. My armpits have to be hairless, that’s essential. But my legs? For them to be perfect I need to shave about twice a week, for smooth legs nobody will see lol I think women are slaves of these rituals. Let’s be clean and put together but practical and rational too.
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My razor doesn’t really come out in the winter for my legs, it comes out occasionally but nowhere near as much as it does in the summer.
I’d be pretty pissed if I were you about the dentist! Also I remember crying in school in my first month or so. I was told what I’d done was wrong even though no one had told/shown me the “right” way to do it – I was pretty pissed and upset about that too
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It is NEVER your fault if someone disrespects you. That is totally on them, and bad manners. You are being a good person, doing the right things, that is the way you should be. I hate that it made you cry. Big hugs :):)
The dentist visit was way past unprofessional. I mean really, “I remember talking to you and forgot to write down the appointment”, unprofessional! It’s also a good way for them to get a bad reputation and cost them clients. I can see how that would have irritated you, it would have irritated me as well. Since you like the Dentist, maybe when you do make the next appointment, tell her what happened. I am sure she would want to know, and correct the issue. She is paying them to make her clients happy.
Yeah, my legs don’t get shaved as much when it’s cold but I HAVE to shave them. I would be as furry as that cat picture you put up if I didn’t hahaha 😉
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Ugh, sounds like a rough day, I’m so sorry! Don’t feel bad about crying though, sometimes we need to just let it out. As far as the receptionist, I would probably make a complaint. I’m normally a good customer (or at least I like to think so); I’m polite, I smile, and I’m pretty patient. However, in a situation like yours, was she even going to say anything to you? You’d been sitting there for twenty minutes already, and nothing had been said. She also didn’t sound like she felt very bad about it, and she should have apologized, both for the mistake and for wasting your time.
Back to the students, like I said above, sometimes you need a good cry. Kids can frustrate you and push your buttons, and just overall drive you crazy. I cried many, many times in my classroom over the years. I don’t subscribe to the idea that you have to be mean– no smiling, etc. But until they earn back your trust and respect, I would try to be more firm.
Hope your day is better today. 🙂
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I know a teacher who had a similar situation and she realized that if she let it go on the other students would get out of line. So she marched the kid to the principal’s office and told her what happened and then she handed the phone to the student and made him call his parents at work and explain why he was calling and why he would be expelled if he didn’t show some respect. All the teacher heard was yelling on the other end of the phone. There was never a problem with the kid again and word got around because there was never a problem with the rest of the class, either. Good luck, my dear!
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Yes, if you read my last Student Wisdom post you’ll see how a mom reacted, which was great for him to understand the consequences of his actions. OMG, up until now I seriously read “everyone else has the best TILES” and thought you were jealous of other people’s kitchen floors or something. Honestly, how blind can I be?
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HAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!! You’ve made my night! I do have a little tile envy now that you mention it! Dying laughing here!
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Sounds like the universe had it out for you that day. Or at least that one receptionist and kid. As for the dentist, that was completely the receptionist’s fault, and I would complain. If you confirmed something over the phone, she should have written it down. That’s on her. As for your teaching style, if it works for you keep at it. But some kids will take advantage (cause you know, some kids are just rude and like to push buttons), and with them, you may have to be tougher or meaner. Some days you may just need to sit and cry and let it out 🙂 I hope you have better days coming up
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Oh yes, the universe was beating the crap out of me on Tuesday. You know the funny thing?I didn’t even confirm the appointment on the phone, I was actually there and she didn’t write it down on the agenda.
I’m learning that. My style works with 90% of them. There’s about 2 I can complain of actually being rude and insolent and the other teachers say they’re pretty much the same with them so I guess I’m not so bad. Thank you, dear. Wednesday was much better and I hope today is calm 🙂
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My, your day sounds like a handful plus the foiled appointment. Why don’t you complain? After all in this day and age, when everyone is so busy, one’s time cannot be taken for granted. As for the students, let your gut feelings guide you. I am sure you will soon establish an equation with even the most antsy one of the lot. All the best for making them fall in line. xx
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Hey dear! It was a difficult day. I thought about complaining (they have a specific book for that here, where you write a complain and then the consumer authorities deal with that and all, I’m not sure if it’s a thing everywhere?) but if you do it’s pretty serious and I don’t really want to cause her any trouble, I just wanted to show how mad I am and that it’s not okay nor professional. She didn’t apologize much, either. Only when I left. That alone, made me very angry.
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Well then you should put in an official complaint. She should know that her job is not a trivial one and that it comes with responsibilities.
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