I Don't Get Paid Enough to Put Up with This

[porphyry]

For the most part, I am a pretty tolerant, easygoing person, but lately at work my co-workers have begun to engage in a behavior that’s really grating on my nerves.

As an instructor, I expect a certain amount of nonsense from my students—reasons and excuses are a daily part of my working life as to why the students can’t read their assignments, do their homework, or write their papers. Over and over again, college students prove Shakespeare correct, constantly affirming the wisdom of the bard with their hyperbolic descriptions of illness or despair, so that I can only think, as I listen to these epic messages left by students on my voicemail, describing every last detail of illness (faked, most likely) or some problem with a boyfriend I really couldn’t care less about: “The lady doth protest too much, methinks” while also bringing to mind Hamlet’s own assessment of bad acting: “They imitate humanity abominably.” But I digress.

I do not, however, expect a level of nonsense from my peers, apart from the personality quirks one must expect, that I have been experiencing lately. I can’t remember who started it. Whoever that dolt happened to be, the rest of them (except me) found this amusing. It turns out that the phone system where I work enables one to change the ring tone to suit his or her tastes, so if you wanted to, you could change the more modern ring to a ring that sounds like a phone did in, say, 1970. And there are many variations of different bell-based rings one can choose from, about five or six in all. That’s fine.

There are also, however, other rings from which to choose. So at any given time of day or evening, I might hear, “Meow? Meow? Meow?” or “Woof! Woof! Woof!” and if a meowing cat and barking dog isn’t to your taste, why, we also can hear a horse whinnying or a cow mooing or even a disembodied voice saying, “Are you there? Are you there? Are you there?”

Now, in addition to the students’ cell phones ringing during class (which mostly they’re pretty diligent about turning off since I’ve made it clear it’s a pet peeve of mine; a ringing cell phone during an exam, for example, will earn that student a zero) with some horrid piece of music not fit for human consumption, now I must endure this meowing, barking, whinnying, mooing, etc. while I’m trying to mark tests and make lesson plans.

Perhaps I should have a better sense of humor about it rather than want to scream, “Come on, people! Grow up!” But for now, I’m keeping my silence. Perhaps they’ll outgrow it soon.

Comments

phoney

[benicek.livejournal.com]

Oh but I want barking phones at work too! That would be fun I think. Also if we could have one barking and one meowing phone on the desk in the hospital ward then we'd be able to tell which one was ringing.

I would love to get my mobile to play the first few frantic bars of the Overture to Offenbach's 'La Perichole', but I've no idea how to download or create ring tones.

Re: phoney

[malkhos.livejournal.com]

That's actually the point of these various ring tones, so that everyone can distinguish his or her phone from everyone else's.

It was mildly amusing at first, I guess, but it got tedious rather quickly. Perhaps it's more the fact these people kept trying to outdo each other and the joke has worn itself out that bugs me.

Malkhos suggested I try to find the "Ode to Joy" for my phone, but like you I've no idea how to do such a thing.

[majolika.livejournal.com]

if my cellphone asked me if I was there I would die. Instantly. EWWW!

[malkhos.livejournal.com]

It is rather creepy.

[malkhos.livejournal.com]

It is rather dreadful. For the most part, my colleagues already perceive me as the naysayer-in-residence, so I couldn't make myself more unpopular that way if I tried. They tell me I'm cynical. I suppose this is because I don't take their complaints about things seriously enough--i.e., one day, one of them was bemoaning to me the fact that too many of her students were passing her courses but she considered their work to be substandard. "That's your fault," I said. "As far as I'm concerned, this is why the letter 'F' exists." She's hardly spoken to me since, and I can only think it's because I didn't nod sympathetically and commiserate with her.

I don't think the whole phone thing will improve either; it was still going on yesterday.

[malkhos.livejournal.com]

I couldn't agree more.

[benicek.livejournal.com]

To be fair, your colleagues don't sound unbearable. I've had worse. I've had people trying to get me sacked and I've had racist jibes too.

[malkhos.livejournal.com]

All right, all right; I'm not above admitting they are not in fact an unbearable lot, really--and certainly I've never experienced anyone doing to me what you've stated. Yes, what I speak about deals more with the petty complaints. So there; I'm duly chastised. :)

What sorts of racist remarks have you encountered? If you don't mind my asking.

[benicek.livejournal.com]

Oh I had one line manager accuse my Czech wife of being a visa hunter. This was before the Czechs joined the EU and couldn't get work permits here.

[malkhos.livejournal.com]

Couldn't the accuser have been, well, more--original? What an ass!

I hope you informed the idiot that some people do in fact marry for love.

[benicek.livejournal.com]

Xenophobia is by its very nature unoriginal, because its mass-appeal is self-justifying. It must be true because everyone believes it.