SOMEONE ELSE'S CRISIS
My schedule is RIDICULOUS. It's no wonder I can't keep up with things here at home. I have physical therapy Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays (and that doesn't seem to be ending any time soon). Tuesdays are my only day wherein I have time to sit and plan and do a great deal of grading and really dig into stuff that needs to be done in my room. Wednesdays and Thursdays, I have after school or Extended School time. Wednesdays are crazy as I've got to leave from ESS early to RUN to my PT appointment. Thursdays, I am able to do stuff like committee meetings and team meeting and lesson plan and all that stuff that doesn't get done during planning. That leaves Saturdays and Sundays to try to catch up on things like laundry and house cleaning and organization and bill paying and perhaps, just perhaps, a little bit of social life ... a VERY teeny, tiny social life.
So I am always so very flummoxed when someone gets huffy because my schedule doesn't fit into their timeline. Poor planning (or a lack of understanding) on their part DOES NOT constitute an emergency on my part. It just doesn't.
A meeting was recently called. I explained that my schedule was extremely tight right now, and I didn't have a lot of room to wiggle where a meeting was concerned. I threw out some possible dates, and here's where it gets laughable, my dates were declined because I couldn't meet when THEY WANTED ME TO. Ummmm, okay. Why bother to ask for availability then?
And don't you just hate when some one looks at you and says, "Oh! I get it! My life is STUPID, busy as well," when they have no earthly clue how long it takes me to "get off the clock?" These people leave at 5 p.m. and get to leave their work at work. I, on the other hand, might leave before 5 p.m., but deal with my job until I go to bed at, hopefully, a decent time at night. NO. YOU DON'T GET IT. STOP TELLING ME YOU DO!
I have been beyond blown away by the people in my life that truly understand the craziness that is my life. I really have. They have gone out of their way to excuse me from commitments, show understanding and compassion, and their willingness to work with the insanity.
This whole experience has taught me many things. Chiefly, we are all self-centered, and it's really hard to break that desire. However, after the wonderful examples I've had the opportunity to witness in recent weeks, I am willing to work hard to do just that in the future especially if I see another struggling to make it a day under crazy conditions.
So I am always so very flummoxed when someone gets huffy because my schedule doesn't fit into their timeline. Poor planning (or a lack of understanding) on their part DOES NOT constitute an emergency on my part. It just doesn't.
A meeting was recently called. I explained that my schedule was extremely tight right now, and I didn't have a lot of room to wiggle where a meeting was concerned. I threw out some possible dates, and here's where it gets laughable, my dates were declined because I couldn't meet when THEY WANTED ME TO. Ummmm, okay. Why bother to ask for availability then?
And don't you just hate when some one looks at you and says, "Oh! I get it! My life is STUPID, busy as well," when they have no earthly clue how long it takes me to "get off the clock?" These people leave at 5 p.m. and get to leave their work at work. I, on the other hand, might leave before 5 p.m., but deal with my job until I go to bed at, hopefully, a decent time at night. NO. YOU DON'T GET IT. STOP TELLING ME YOU DO!
I have been beyond blown away by the people in my life that truly understand the craziness that is my life. I really have. They have gone out of their way to excuse me from commitments, show understanding and compassion, and their willingness to work with the insanity.
This whole experience has taught me many things. Chiefly, we are all self-centered, and it's really hard to break that desire. However, after the wonderful examples I've had the opportunity to witness in recent weeks, I am willing to work hard to do just that in the future especially if I see another struggling to make it a day under crazy conditions.
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