The Stupids are running rampant

Stupid people really bug me.

And there's different brands of stupid. Right now, I'm dealing with teacher stupids, school administration stupids, controlling IT stupids, helpdesk stupids, OfficeMax stupids, professor stupids, and busy-body stupids.

Teacher stupids:
As you know, Son has been struggling with "mood problems." Some days, I can't even get him out of bed. He's also been out with dental problems. This has resulted in spotty attendance at school. He came home last week MAD. One teacher had been hassling him about his absence the day before. "So, are you just playing hooky?" she said. "Do you fake sick and get your mommy to call in for you?"

This ass-load of judgment on the teacher's part, without bothering to find out the situation, humiliated him. It made me mad, too. So, I wrote an email. It went to all of his teachers, the principal, the vice principal, and the junior counselor. In it, I laid it all out on the table. I told them the struggles we're having, and how such comments do nothing but make a difficult situation worse. I didn't name the teacher, but she recognized her words.

She wrote back and told me that "chiding" a student will motivate them. And that I should realize how lucky we are that she's been cooperative with Son and his absences.

No, lady, we're not "lucky." Being cooperative with excused absences is school policy. Stupid.

School administrator stupid:
So, Son will be homeschooling. I go to the district office and register him as such. They give me paperwork to give to his school. "Make a copy and give that to them," they say. "Don't give the school your original." See, they have experience with these people.

I go to the school. "No, we don't need that paperwork," the counselor lady says. "Sign this checkout sheet and he'll get his teachers to sign off on it at the end of the semester."

So, Son goes to get the checkout form yesterday. "You can't have it," she says. "Your mom has to sign it."

He texts me about the same time the counselor lady emails me. "Son tells me he's going to start homeschooling," she says, like it's news to her. I've already talked to her about it twice.

"You need to register him as a homeschooler with the district and bring the paperwork to me," she says. "And you must come sign a checkout form."

Uhm....you mean the paperwork I tried to give you last week? And the form I signed last week?

I write and ask. I call and leave a voicemail. Silence for awhile. Then the backpedaling commences. Stupid.

Controlling IT stupid:
Someone in particular in our IT department is very controlling. When I first started here, I was placed in her office temporarily. She seemed to think she was my boss. "Where are you going? For how long? Who are you meeting with? What about?" Uhm...we're not even in the same department. In the hierarchy, we're on the same level. Back off, lady.

Still, she wants to approve and control what I do with our online courses. I'm sorry....that's the heart of my JOB. Don't fuck with it.

So, I get a request from a prof to re-use his course materials from Spring 2007. I go looking for it and can't find it in the online system. That means it's been archived. I look through all of the archive materials. No Spring 2007 courses exist anymore.

I write to two people in IT who deal with this, including the controlling lady. The other guy doesn't know where they are. She tells me that it's all on the IT drive that I can see. Nothing is there.

"Am I to assume the courses are just gone?" I ask.

The guy says yes. They're just gone.

On his heels, the controlling lady says, "It's on the server. I've restored it to the system for you to use. Whenever you need an archive, ask me to restore it."

Hmmm. Strange. I know how to do this, but she's saying she needs to do it?

"Where did you find them?" I ask.

"They're on the server," she says. "You can't see it."

Thud.

That's the sound of a comment not going over well in my office.

"You can't see it." The slow boil in my blood begins. She is withholding a tool I need to do my job. No reason exists for her to withhold it from me. If she doesn't want me mucking around on the server, fine. Put the archive with the others, where I can find it. Where I can do. my. effing. job. And don't tell me how to do it, either.

I'm resisting my kneejerk reaction to tear the bitch a new one. I'll consult with my boss and make sure I don't overstep my bounds. But this is majorly pissing me off. Stupid asswipe woman.

OfficeMax stupids:
This one really gets me. I'm actually going to do something official about this.

So, Daughter has saved up almost all the money she needs for a laptop of her own. We've been looking for a deal on one. The brand-new Sunday ad comes out and there's our deal. A laptop with the right specs, a Bluetooth mouse, and a 4-in-1 printer for $599. My folks need the printer and want to pay a fair portion to keep that. So, off we go to OfficeMax to get our bundle deal.

They've been open two hours. There's like three cars in the parking lot. No rush happening here. Mom and I walk in that ask a guy working about where to find it.

He makes an abrupt stab at the ad with his finger. "I'm out of those."

"Which?" Mom says.

"That." Another stab. "The bundle."

"You've been open two hours and it's all gone?" Mom asks.

"Yeah," he says. "And I can't order it. I tried for someone who was here earlier."

"So, you haven't had them at all?"

"Right."

"It's in today's ad and you don't have anything available?"

"No," he says. And he makes a fatal mistake. He smirks. "You can get the laptop by itself. For $599."

"For the same price as the bundle?" I ask, incredulous.

"Yeah." Smirk.

Anyone else out there smell a bait-and-switch?

It gets better. We decide to go look it up online. It's there! We add it to the cart and click to checkout.

Guess what?

"This item has been discontinued."

Discontinued?? You can buy the individual pieces, for a higher price, but the bundle is "discontinued."

I wrote an email.

I got a response.

From an idiot.

She says they still have bundles available, if I want to order it. My response: How? Your store doesn't have it. They can't order it. Your web site says its discontinued. Huh?

She says that they stock individual stores with enough to meet the need. Sometimes, they sell out. My response: On the DAY of the ad, they didn't have it and never did. And couldn't obtain it. But we could buy one piece, for the same price.

She says that it's not unusual for technology to be discontinued. "New technology becomes obsolete in 4-6 months," she says. "This is an industry standard."

An industry standard?? My response: Listen, fuckwad, I'm no flunky here. I work in the "industry." Discontinuing an item does not happen on the same day it's advertised. And the technology is still available. How does a bundle become obsolete? (Okay, so I didn't actually call her a fuckwad....yet.)

Stupid ass OfficeMax. I don't have another response yet.

Professor stupids:
This is an ongoing thing. Some people think that a PhD means they never have to follow instructions or fill out a form again. Everyone else has to, but not them. And they think I'm the one who needs to do it for them.

I'm in administration, sweethearts. I'll eat your course for breakfast, if you want to be snotty with me. I don't like to pull my position over them, but I will if I have to.

So, I sent the form I need. They send it back incomplete. I send it back again. They send it back incomplete. I send it back again. If they want their course posted, they can do this the right way. I don't create a form if I don't have to, but sometimes I have to. Idiots.

Busy-body stupids:
I did a bad thing the other day. Not on purpose, but it was definitely a screw-up on my part. I was backing up in the parking lot, to go home. As I shifted into drive, I heard a big thunk!

Oh crap. I hit something. I checked the rearview mirror. I couldn't see anything behind me. WTF? I pulled forward slowly, still looking in the rearview.

And there it was. On it's side. A motorcycle. One of those crotch-rocket things.

Damn.

I backed up and swung into a parking place, so I could fish around for my briefcase and something to write on. I finally found a pad of paper and pen, wrote a note, saying I bumped the bike and please call if there's damage. I gave my name and office phone number. I couldn't right the bike on my own, so I tucked the note on it and went home. Cursing myself for doing something so stupid, and figuring out where money for motorcycle repairs would come from.

The next day, the bike's owner called. Nice kid. A student. Totally over the moon that I left the note. No damage. Thank God!

But guess what? The local police called him that day. I seems someone said they say what happened and reported it as a hit-and-run.

A hit-and-run! I left a note and someone pulls this crap? I mean, I didn't go more than 15 feet away from it!

So, the kid told them that I left a note and no problem. Go away, police.

And I have a certain finger for whoever reported that. Stupid.

Okay, rant over. Until a new rash of stupids comes along.

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UPDATE ON OFFICEMAX SITUATION 12-18-09: I didn't hear back from the idiot for two days. So, I wrote and asked for a response. She replied: "You said you didn't know if you wanted to order the item. I've been waiting to hear." WTF?!?! She ignored everything else I said and only focused on the sale. Brilliant.

I wrote back: "I would like a response to each question I asked in that email. So far, none of my questions have been addressed. In my last line, I asked why I should consider doing business with OfficeMax. Please answer."

Her response: "I will not debate those issues. You've made your decision. As far as OfficeMax is concerned, the matter is closed."

Can I get a resounding "fuckwad!" here? I've spoken to her supervisor and forwarded all communications. If I don't hear from him soon, I'll just go up the ladder.

She. Pissed. Me. Off.