I don't go on Facebook every day, but when sitting through interminably long meetings with twelve different VPs getting up to PowerPoint their way through their annual goals, I have been known to distract myself by checking to see what my virtual friends are doing, if only to remind myself that others have trials far worse than five-hour long meetings at the beginning of the quarter (yes, the quarter is just beginning for us).And what a fun greeting Facebook provided: a request from a total stranger. This isn't that strange to me. I've ignored some of these in the past. However, this one was accompanied by a message from the total stranger. It started with:
You don't know me, but my daughter is in one of your classes, and I would love to be your friend so you can keep me updated on her progress...And that's how far I got before completely shutting down, both electronically and mentally.
Oh, my. With all the adminicritters out there, don't you think they could provide us with one to whom to forward all such communications for appropriate disposition/disposal?
ReplyDeleteHePOW! (Helicopter Parent of the Week)
ReplyDeleteWhile I am cynical enough to believe this happened, I am not imaginative enough to have predicted it. Parents friending their child's professors opens up a new frontier (airspace?) for helicopter parenting.
ReplyDeleteWhoever took over the tweetie-domo job posted this today:
ReplyDeleteImagine the information you could share. "Lisa showed up in her pajamas again today, and I think she's dating Scott."
Yes, yes! Just think of the havoc you could wreak with fake posts!
DeleteI didn't even think of this! Brilliant, Kimmie!
DeleteYeah, I want to talk about your first sentence. What is it about education that leads to long-winded lectures about nothing in particular?
ReplyDeleteI've just sat through 2 full 8 hour days of these kinds of ceremonies, where people's names are listed, random neighbors, staff, faculty, deans are celebrated without saying why precisely. We just sit there, bored to tears, waiting for it to end.
My situation is even worse, because I have a Chinese partnership, so the Chinese coalition was here and everything had to be said in both languages. It Took ForEVER.
Then there's graduation, the worst ceremony ever, and retirement parties of similar talks, and beginning / end of term parties that toast random people for doing the very minor basics of their very jobs.
STOP WITH THE ENDLESS LECTURES ALREADY.
OMG, it's enough to make me want to friend my students' parents. Not raelly, but WOW!
DeleteMy campus is having inservice this week as well. I'm returning after a glorious sabbatical, so these meetings seem even more insipid than usual. And why do these alleged educational experts violate good teaching practices and run meetings for three and a half teapartying hours with no variation in delivery nor a break?!?
ReplyDeleteOh, and the FB friend request?!? Holy crap.
ReplyDelete