Arbeitsplatz, trabajo, the endless to-do list

In East Germany the main car on offer was the Trabant. The name comes from Trabajador or “worker.” Look I am no communist sympathizer but I appreciate the elevation of the worker if even only symbolic. And if even only to name a car after workers, when said car was a total piece of shit with a two cylinder engine, fiber-board body, and you had to be on a waiting list for 11 years to take delivery. But speaking of fucking over workers, I’m at the Arbeitsplatz where one of my colleagues was just fired as a part of a “restructuring.” What restructuring? Well he tried to restructure the staff into a union. So he was restructured out the door. It’s getting very pitch-fork-y these days. I’ve been following the news about this United Heath CEO who was assassinated. The bullets had the words, “deny,” “delay,” and “depose” written on them. that’s some style, girl. What’s next? Each word of a haiku on a bullet? Interesting times.

So also at the Arbeitsplatz, I’m involved in a big expulsion hearing. OMG. I used to think we were being so dramatic on campus with our “oh what do we do in the case of an active shooter?” concerns. We’re not really a big target and we have a tiny student population. We’re an art school. Everyone’s pretty liberal and not really the gun toting type. Except we are expelling a koo-koo pants who has harassed pretty much everyone including the dean. He broke into locked rooms, got in a shoving match with another student. He’s gone after the people who work at the coffee shop, he’s claimed he’s being persecuted but can never say how or by whom. He’s on security camera footage keying someone’s car (dumbass – there are cameras everywhere.) He spouts off all this misogynistic and racist BS all the time in classes where there are like 20 witnesses. So maybe, if I had to pick a candidate for most likely to shoot up the place I’m going to go with his dumbass. And get this, some of my colleagues on the committee wanted to just do a suspension! WTF? After eight (EIGHT) reported incidents you think a suspension is going to help him see the light? Hey, maybe don’t threaten to call INS on an international student because they had the audacity to say you needed to reserve one of the rooms in advance and couldn’t just barge in like an entitled fuck-wad. Fortunately the DEI officer had the solution that made the most sense: suspension for a year and a half so that everyone he is currently in school with has graduated and in that year and a half require him to go to every fucking sensitivity training, emotional intelligence, cultural awareness fucking re-education camp in the GD world. There’s no fucking way this dude is going to sit through all that so it is a de facto suspension forever. Hey, we gave you the opportunity to learn from your mistakes!

Meanwhile, I am so stressed from this and ten other fucked up work situations that my blood pressure has been creeping up again. I’d gotten it back to normal after it spiked on November 6 (hmm – wonder why my BP was so high on 11/6?) but this shit show on top of numerous other shit shows. Oh, and guess who had to write up the report? “Well you’re the writer, I can’t write it because the Fin Aid Statements have to go out…” I don’t blame her. I just love how they let it go this far. Eight incidents since August 28 and now we have 5 hours to review all the materials and write a bullet proof (ha) report with our recommendations.

I’m just going to have to say that while I love my boss personally, she’s getting on my nerves professionally. And the Dean – ugh. You ever meet someone who was so unpleasant and rude you weren’t angry at them, you felt sorry for them? I never get people in positions of power being rude and unpleasant to those working under them and supporting them. And I know for a fact she has no problems with me or my work. She’s even mentioned that she appreciates my work (not to me but in passing to others.) So the issue to me is, isn’t it just as easy to be friendly or at least polite? Like today I was so pissed at my students because they’ve farted around and blown past all the deadlines and now they’re all behind on their work. But I didn’t come at them like, you suck and you will never work professionally. I told them that we’re working on work ethic in the spring. I revised the syllabus, updated the deadlines and instituted a new policy where they’re getting written up if they miss anymore deadlines. Usually I treat my students like adults because most of them are in their late 20’s or early 30’s. But this group – is it a Covid thing? Like going to undergrad on Zoom turned them feral?

I only have 3 more fucked up situations to deal with and then I’ll be reset.

Fucked up situation 1: the electives problem.

Fucked up situation 2: The University of Manchester problem

Fucked up situation 3: You F.O.

I can’t wait to get those crossed off my list.