[Humour] Have you stopped giving a toss?

Littlemo said:

I find it most amusing to wonder how you would get on with those tasks if said administrators weren’t there. As who would be doing them? You guys instead of doing your research and teaching? The jobs don’t disappear.

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Tom Hark Preston Park said:

You're magnificent when you're angry Harold

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Harry Wilson's tackle said:

That said, as I get older I may actually be mellowing. Twenty years ago was sent tomfoolery (inviting me to explore new college web pages on upscaling student experience fulfillment quality assurance, or somesuch bolleaux). I asked why I should do this and they invited me to explore the New college fulfillment experience directorate web page to find out why. I responded with 'am I here for your benefit or are you here for mine?'. I was sent an email demanding an apology, ccd to the Principle of the University. Christ. My reply was one of those ambiguous constructs, acknowledging their 'extraordinary contribution' etc. They seemed happy with that.

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Van Cleef said:

After a particularly lengthy standoff between my dogs and a black and white cat on this mornings stroll, I sang, (out loud), "you've seen the cat now f*** off home" X2. I then walked off chuckling to myself at how witty I am, while dragging the dogs behind. All this happened next to a bus stop with two humans looking on.
Do we stop caring so much about what others think as we get older, or is it just me?

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Comrade Sam said:

I have to confess a choked up when I saw Bon Jovi save that woman on the bridge. Whilst his music is still offensive, I love people giving a shit

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Harry Wilson's tackle said:

Sadly we are overrun with administrators. I have spent 3 months trying to sort out a PhD studentship with around 10 different people in charge of different aspects (programme approval, funding approval, contracts) of paperwork only to find that all the changes in the badly written draft I requested to be fixed weren't made. I pointed out that the title of the project is not in English. Turns out my modeler collaborator has had no access to college emails for 3 months. And nobody noticed. Turns out also that mentioning that something isn't in English (along with some other comments such as 'this isn't so much a PhD project as a technical exercise' along with good suggestions for resolution) is 'offensive'. Well, f*** that.

Separately we have an important requirement to manage students who appeal their degree result, or the outcome of a disciplinary hearing. This is all managed by administrators. They send repeated emails asking for volunteers to sit on the ad hoc committees. When we reply we are sent an automatic passive-aggressive reply saying they will 'endeavour' (big Morse fans, obviously) to reply in a week. Then they send more hand-wringy emails about need for volunteers. I commented that it would help if they turned their permanent 'out of office' message off and actually managed the process by replying to individuals in a timely and efficient manner. I was accused of being abusive (in a reply that was sent more than seven days after my email). I tried to explain the difference between a reasonable degree of exasperation and abuse. I have yet to receive a reply. Apparently these people are very busy. My job is research and teaching - a rather unimportant aspect of university activity today, it would seem.

Deluded entitled ****s the lot of them.

That said, as I get older I may actually be mellowing. Twenty years ago was sent tomfoolery (inviting me to explore new college web pages on upscaling student experience fulfillment quality assurance, or somesuch bolleaux). I asked why I should do this and they invited me to explore the New college fulfillment experience directorate web page to find out why. I responded with 'am I here for your benefit or are you here for mine?'. I was sent an email demanding an apology, ccd to the Principle of the University. Christ. My reply was one of those ambiguous constructs, acknowledging their 'extraordinary contribution' etc. They seemed happy with that.

****s

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Van Cleef said:

After a particularly lengthy standoff between my dogs and a black and white cat on this mornings stroll, I sang, (out loud), "you've seen the cat now f*** off home" X2. I then walked off chuckling to myself at how witty I am, while dragging the dogs behind. All this happened next to a bus stop with two humans looking on.
Do we stop caring so much about what others think as we get older, or is it just me?

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maffew said:

Did it work though for the dogs?

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Van Cleef said:

After a particularly lengthy standoff between my dogs and a black and white cat on this mornings stroll, I sang, (out loud), "you've seen the cat now f*** off home" X2. I then walked off chuckling to myself at how witty I am, while dragging the dogs behind. All this happened next to a bus stop with two humans looking on.
Do we stop caring so much about what others think as we get older, or is it just me?

Click to expand...

sussex_guy2k2 said:

I subscribe to the Tom Holland school of thought: “if you have a problem with me, text/call me. If you don’t have my number to text me, you have no right to an opinion”.

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Dick Swiveller said:

I'd unsubscribe from one of them.

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Coldeanseagull said:

Being married for over forty years and having two daughters, I've become accustomed to not giving a toss what people think of me....the skin is thick so it is

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US Seagull said:

Having a kid really did it for me. I remember one time when my daughter was young, like 3 or 4 maybe, and very much in the carrying around a baby doll phase; we went to a birthday party for a colleague's kid who was around the same age. Of course, my daughter insisted on taking her favorite doll (named Purple Gymnastic). Of course, within about 5 minutes of arriving she hands the doll off to me and runs off to play with the other kids. I was wearing cargo shorts (another sign of not giving a shit?), so I stuffed it into my pocket and PG rode around with her head poking out of my pocket for the rest of the afternoon.

A pair of young women, who I didn't know, commented to me how weird that was. I just gave them a polite smile and a slight nod. I didn't care one jot.

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Harry Wilson's tackle said:

Sadly we are overrun with administrators. I have spent 3 months trying to sort out a PhD studentship with around 10 different people in charge of different aspects (programme approval, funding approval, contracts) of paperwork only to find that all the changes in the badly written draft I requested to be fixed weren't made. I pointed out that the title of the project is not in English. Turns out my modeler collaborator has had no access to college emails for 3 months. And nobody noticed. Turns out also that mentioning that something isn't in English (along with some other comments such as 'this isn't so much a PhD project as a technical exercise' along with good suggestions for resolution) is 'offensive'. Well, f*** that.

Separately we have an important requirement to manage students who appeal their degree result, or the outcome of a disciplinary hearing. This is all managed by administrators. They send repeated emails asking for volunteers to sit on the ad hoc committees. When we reply we are sent an automatic passive-aggressive reply saying they will 'endeavour' (big Morse fans, obviously) to reply in a week. Then they send more hand-wringy emails about need for volunteers. I commented that it would help if they turned their permanent 'out of office' message off and actually managed the process by replying to individuals in a timely and efficient manner. I was accused of being abusive (in a reply that was sent more than seven days after my email). I tried to explain the difference between a reasonable degree of exasperation and abuse. I have yet to receive a reply. Apparently these people are very busy. My job is research and teaching - a rather unimportant aspect of university activity today, it would seem.

Deluded entitled ****s the lot of them.

That said, as I get older I may actually be mellowing. Twenty years ago was sent tomfoolery (inviting me to explore new college web pages on upscaling student experience fulfillment quality assurance, or somesuch bolleaux). I asked why I should do this and they invited me to explore the New college fulfillment experience directorate web page to find out why. I responded with 'am I here for your benefit or are you here for mine?'. I was sent an email demanding an apology, ccd to the Principle of the University. Christ. My reply was one of those ambiguous constructs, acknowledging their 'extraordinary contribution' etc. They seemed happy with that.

****s.

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Littlemo said:

I find it most amusing to wonder how you would get on with those tasks if said administrators weren’t there. As who would be doing them? You guys instead of doing your research and teaching? The jobs don’t disappear.

Click to expand...