The Freaks Come Out

Even though I pretty much know the working or home life status of each of my 6 faithful readers, I'm going to pretend I don't. So, whether you work and have to attend continuing education courses; or if you teach adults in a work environment; or if you can think back to your time attending college classes...you'll get this post 100%.

Last week I was out of the office a lot. I had a 1/2 day class (taught by my stepmother, no less) on Tuesday, and then a 1.5 day class on "How to Conduct an Effective Interview". Both classes were actually very good, and I know I can use some of the things taught to help me in my job. In the Tuesday class, I was very curious about these reports that were being taught. And seeing as how Sylvia was the teacher, I was not at all reluctant to ask lots of questions - and re-questions when I needed her to follow up. At one point fairly early on, I realized that all of my questioning was probably getting on some people's nerves, so I decided to shut up and just listen. After all, I could just call Sylvia after the class and get her to clarify anything that was still unclear.

Then comes Thursday, and day one of the Interview class. I have come to realize that in every class, there is always as least one major freak. (Please note that I stopped myself in the Tuesday class so that I wouldn't become that freak.) So we're in this class of about 30 people, sitting at 6 different tables. Based on overhearing certain conversations prior to the class starting, I was already homing in on a freak or two. Then comes the introductions. "Tell everyone your name, where you work, how long you've been with the state, and what you expect to take away from this class." Blah! So we get to Table 2, and "The Soapbox" from the DMV introduces herself. She decides to stray a bit from the standard intro and tell the rest of us how hard they work at the DMV, how much they've had to do since Katrina, and how because of this, and the fact that they are so underpaid, that they can't keep anyone. Therefore, they are constantly interviewing. She finishes up with, "I mean think about it, people!" The room was silent. Well, not quite totally silent. You see, Freak #2, aka "The Parrot" was sitting back to back with me, and she's verbally agreeing with The Soapbox. It was like we were in a non-denominational church or something. "Yes, you're right. Uh huh. You know that's true." Oh, I knew this was going to be a long day and 1/2.

So, the class is trudging along (after the 30 minute fire drill in the blistering sun), and the Soapbox keeps doing her thing, and the Parrot keeps doing hers. Then we get to a video, which was cheesy, but amusing. So we have to discuss the video, and the teacher is fielding questions from the class, and the Parrot is answering them. It was DRIVING ME CRAZY! It wasn't that she was disagreeing with the teacher, but she was answering them as if they were being directed at her. At one point I was asking the instructor a question, and she paused for a minute to consider, and Parrot decides to answer. I just kind of ignored her, but she kept on. Finally, I said, "That's great, but I am REALLY interested in what SHE has to say on the matter." It shut her up for about 3 minutes. Later, someone asked about taping or recording interviews. The instructor said that you could do that, but she didn't really think that was a good idea. And, because you have to treat all interviewees the same, you have to get permission from all of them if you decide to proceed in this manner. So I (being the fascist that I am) said, "Well, couldn't you just tell them when you are scheduling the interview that it is the department's policy to video all interviews at that level? And if they weren't interested, they didn't have to interview at all." The instructor: "Well...." The Parrot: "Oh, no, you can't do that. They all have to agree. Otherwise you're violating their rights!" Me (pissed off): "Well, by that argument, then if they walk into the interview and see that there is a panel of 3 interviewing them, they could just decide that they want a one on one interview. You're allowing them to control the way you interview." The Parrot: "Blah, blah, blah, blah violation of privacy, blah, blah." Me: "Whatever. That's just ridiculous."

Don't think that The Soapbox was quiet this whole time. No, sporadically, she would pipe up with her opinion on things, both on and off topic. Her main sparring partner seemed to be an LSU cop who was taking the class. He was loud, but funny, and not offensive. However, she seemed to want to argue with him about everything. At one point, he was trying to pin down the instructor on what would be the best way to react when someone tells you some personal health problem they have (when you're not supposed to react at all). He kept asking, and The Soapbox kept answering him, and he finally said, "Look. I'm sure all of your encyclopedias have already been sold, so I'd really like to here HER opinion." I'm not really sure exactly what that meant, but I'm pretty sure it meant "Shut the f@*k up!" And she did - for about a minute.

So, all of this to just affirm that no matter how old you get or what kind of group dynamics environment you find yourself in, there is always a Freak in there, and sometimes, it just may be someone besides yourself!