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Here I am, lying next to my sleeping wife on a Saturday morning. I've been up since about 8:30, since I think it's programmed into my clock. I've offered her the chance to get up, and so far, she hasn't been interested.
Today is the first Saturday in quite some time that we've had time together to do... nothing. I would've loved to sleep in, but I didn't. I hope she gets up soon so that we can have some fun today before she goes into Uncle Monte's to work the night shift. While she's gone, I'm going to effectively finish my Indiana book text revisions. That's my goal, at least. If I can get that stuff in Monday, I'll be ohhh-sooooo-close. Just a paper on Amy's grandma and an exam in Urban... then I'll be done.
Oh, fuck. I just remembered that I have to go to the department Christmas dinner tonight. So much for getting research done tonight!
So, you know how I went to that research progress thing where all of the faculty were supposed to listen and be impressed and then they were supposed to give me comments or advice? Well.... none of the faculty showed up. Well, I'll be fair... three and a half members showed up. Dr. Schwartz, the grad coordinator who planned the whole thing, my mom who just shows up to everything, and Dr. Zimmermann. The rest? No where to be found. Well, the half of the 'three and a half' was Dr. Rahman, who came late and slept through half of our talks.
Here, we gave up our Friday afternoon, showed up, and most of us had prepared some sort of outline, ready to talk about our research for the faculty and pump out our chests a little for our accomplishments.... and none of them decided to show up. I rarely have problems with this department, but this was a complete slap in the face to all of us. Schwartz and my mom were also furious about the whole thing. But Gordon was perhaps the most furious and funny, simultaneously. He was getting packed up in the office to leave afterward, and he was swinging his umbrella around like a regular Jewish Teddy Roosevelt from Long Island, cussing up a storm. Both he and I were stopped in the hallway while leaving by my mom and Schwartz so that they could get our reflections, knowing that we'd both be pissed.
We would've loved to have been doing something else on a Friday afternoon. Like the faculty, we too have a pile of work to complete in the next week, and we could've used that worktime. We, like the faculty, could've used that time to mend ties with our family that we've been neglecting to finish that research.
What was irritating to me perhaps the most is that this semester was by far my most productive to date. Here, I had accomplished so much (and soooo much more than ANY of my counterparts) that I wanted to share and get feedback on, and you know, strut a little.... that opportunity was completely wasted. Surely, my accomplishments warrant (and I don't say positive things about myself like this often AT ALL because my ego is shit) consideration as the Grad Student of the Year, but this will surely be overlooked because no one showed up to my presentation.
The whole thing is just a pile of shit. It's a disrespect by not showing up to hear our research progress while we always attend their lectures about their newest research. It's a disrespect in that they feel their time (used for research, family or whatever) on a Friday afternoon is exponentially more important than ours. The faculty either was working on their work or spending time with their families at home. We could've used time for either as well. A bitter irony of it all is that I was looking forward to, before this presentation was scheduled, using that afternoon to spend some free time with Amy, because my research and other work load just hadn't allowed it. So, when I supposed to present my progess on that work, losing more time with Amy, it's likely that members of the faculty cut out early to spend time with their families for the same reasons, but simultaneously preventing me from doing the same for absolutely no reason.
This really does not make me want to go to the departmental dinner tonight. I hate the idea that here they've shit upon us, and now we're expected to go to this dinner and act like nothing's ever happened. Talk to them and be friendly... socialize. Bullshit. I'm still a little furious about the whole thing. But more than likely, I'll grab my covered dish and go to this stupid thing.
I HATE IT.
And now, I think it's time to wake up Amy and maybe go get some lunch.
Oh, fuck. I just remembered that I have to go to the department Christmas dinner tonight. So much for getting research done tonight!
So, you know how I went to that research progress thing where all of the faculty were supposed to listen and be impressed and then they were supposed to give me comments or advice? Well.... none of the faculty showed up. Well, I'll be fair... three and a half members showed up. Dr. Schwartz, the grad coordinator who planned the whole thing, my mom who just shows up to everything, and Dr. Zimmermann. The rest? No where to be found. Well, the half of the 'three and a half' was Dr. Rahman, who came late and slept through half of our talks.
Here, we gave up our Friday afternoon, showed up, and most of us had prepared some sort of outline, ready to talk about our research for the faculty and pump out our chests a little for our accomplishments.... and none of them decided to show up. I rarely have problems with this department, but this was a complete slap in the face to all of us. Schwartz and my mom were also furious about the whole thing. But Gordon was perhaps the most furious and funny, simultaneously. He was getting packed up in the office to leave afterward, and he was swinging his umbrella around like a regular Jewish Teddy Roosevelt from Long Island, cussing up a storm. Both he and I were stopped in the hallway while leaving by my mom and Schwartz so that they could get our reflections, knowing that we'd both be pissed.
We would've loved to have been doing something else on a Friday afternoon. Like the faculty, we too have a pile of work to complete in the next week, and we could've used that worktime. We, like the faculty, could've used that time to mend ties with our family that we've been neglecting to finish that research.
What was irritating to me perhaps the most is that this semester was by far my most productive to date. Here, I had accomplished so much (and soooo much more than ANY of my counterparts) that I wanted to share and get feedback on, and you know, strut a little.... that opportunity was completely wasted. Surely, my accomplishments warrant (and I don't say positive things about myself like this often AT ALL because my ego is shit) consideration as the Grad Student of the Year, but this will surely be overlooked because no one showed up to my presentation.
The whole thing is just a pile of shit. It's a disrespect by not showing up to hear our research progress while we always attend their lectures about their newest research. It's a disrespect in that they feel their time (used for research, family or whatever) on a Friday afternoon is exponentially more important than ours. The faculty either was working on their work or spending time with their families at home. We could've used time for either as well. A bitter irony of it all is that I was looking forward to, before this presentation was scheduled, using that afternoon to spend some free time with Amy, because my research and other work load just hadn't allowed it. So, when I supposed to present my progess on that work, losing more time with Amy, it's likely that members of the faculty cut out early to spend time with their families for the same reasons, but simultaneously preventing me from doing the same for absolutely no reason.
This really does not make me want to go to the departmental dinner tonight. I hate the idea that here they've shit upon us, and now we're expected to go to this dinner and act like nothing's ever happened. Talk to them and be friendly... socialize. Bullshit. I'm still a little furious about the whole thing. But more than likely, I'll grab my covered dish and go to this stupid thing.
I HATE IT.
And now, I think it's time to wake up Amy and maybe go get some lunch.
Posted by Your Friendly Neighborhood DJ on December 11, 2004 10:18 AM | Permalink
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