She was the ASS in Class

As if watching constant coverage of the devastating aftermath down south isn't depressing enough, several factors contributed to an absolutely crappy day here. Don't get me wrong, nothing compares to the horrific situation going on there. My heart goes out to all those folks, and I just want to preface this by saying that my day was actually grand compared to those without food, water, and a roof over their heads right now. So don't be offended, but I have to rant.

Today started out like most days do around here...wake up, feed the kid some breakfast (after prying him out of the refrigerator and convincing him we have NO more hot dogs), turn on some toons, and log on to read news and check my email (see, I'm waiting ever so patiently to be notified that I've won a scholarship I applied for). Of course, my days did normally start with a 2 hour workout at the YMCA, but ya see, I've been trying to conserve gas since, well...I won't go there right now...

It should have been a sign that the day was going to go downhill when I had to repeatedly fish random objects out of the toilet--my comb, a Snickers bar, an entire roll of toilet paper, etc. Not to mention the fact my son also flushed five times while I was in the shower and later kicked my shins for no logical reason at all.

But I tried to put on a happy face as I puttered off (literally, doing no more than 50 mph on the highway) to my first day of J305--Juvenile Justice. I overheard some conversations behind me about the new professor, which I was a little shocked about since I'm used to having "Bob" for most of my Criminal Justice classes. So I turned around and asked what this new lady was like, and this woman that's been in other CJ classes with me said, "She doesn't impress me." I'm not prejudgmental, though, so I tried to put that comment aside.

Well, I don't know which Nazi camp this woman came from, but she ended up being entirely too bold for my taste. My first problem was with her stringent attendance policy. Now as I've mentioned before, this is my 7th year at this college. I don't have an attendance problem--never have, never will. But I also attend a commuter college--no dorms, apartments, etc.--and there have been occasional instances where wrecks and road construction have prevented students and professors alike from getting to class right on time. So when I saw on the syllabus, "STUDENTS WHO ARE LATE ON TEST DAYS WILL NOT TAKE THE TEST," a question popped into my head.

"How late is late?"

I mean honestly. For one, there's no clock in the classroom. For two, SHE was even late today. And three, we are NOT on a traditional campus as traditional students who get out of bed and mosey down to their 9am classes. Most of the students are actually older than me and like myself, have a great deal of life obligations such as careers and children. I live 45 minutes from campus, so I know that those who live two hours away are going to face traffic travesties from time to time.

So when I asked this question, she got snippy. "You must be in your seat ON TIME." To which I replied, "Well, with gas approaching $4-$5 a gallon, I'm going to be pretty upset if I..." And the bitch cut me off! She had warned us that she was "aggressive" with her replies, but on the first day of class? By God if I'm going to pay out the ass for her salary--not to mention the childcare, gas (I know, it always comes to this), textbooks, etc.--then the least she can do is show enough respect to let me finish my damned sentence.

I was merely going to point out that I am not going to go the distance just to be turned away at the door for a measly two minutes of delay. If I make the effort to get my ass in class, then I'm going to get my money's worth for what time I'm there. After all, I believe that to be late is better than not show up at all.

And did I mention that she has scheduled two days off for herself already? Yeah, a class that meets ONE day a week, and she's going to be gone---yet can't allow two minutes for her students. It was also disturbing when a student looked at the syllabus and asked about the "FIELD TRIP" that was listed. When the said student asked where the field trip was to, she had NO IDEA!

I was also peeved among other "policies" she has...No eating color-coated food, must turn your hats around, have to use name plates on your tables, etc. I am not in high school. The first two don't apply to me, as I never eat in class and seldom wear hats. It is just the principle of the matter.

And she went on and on about grad school and how easy you can get kicked out...how we're all delinquent in some way, which is "quite obvious in New Orleans right now." Then she talked about sacrifice and what you have to do to get a degree, blah, blah, blah...I was completely unimpressed with her high falutin attitude. I just wanted to jump up and say, "Look, you condescending bitch, I took a midterm exam three hours after I gave birth to my son, returned to my full-time classes two days later, went back to my full-time teaching job two weeks later, and started back at my part-time job the next weekend. Don't talk to me about priorities."

But I didn't. Instead, I marched up to Bob's office immediately after class and demanded to know my options. Thankfully, bless the man, he took the time to help me get things figured out so I could drop this class and pick up another. The funny part was when SHE walked in while I was in there using my "name plate" for a scratch pad. She was like, "Oh, you took your name plate? Are you dropping my class?"

"Yep."

I really wanted to take that class, too. I figured I could tough it out, proving that I could maintain my 4.0 (in CJ classes, that is!) even with a bag like her. Then I thought again and realized I don't have to take any more of that crap while I'm a paying college student, especially since there's plenty of it out there in the working world, anyway. Been there, done that, will have to do it again someday soon.

*Sigh*