I made the mistake of letting Nick play with Adrian this afternoon before he worked on his homework. He managed to procrastinate most of it until after dinner. Now, it's nearly time for bed and he's still working on it.
It wouldn't be so bad for me except that he asked me for help, then he yelled at me because he couldn't figure out the answer, i.e., I wouldn't tell him the answer. Then, when I told him a general hint, to read the directions, he ignored me and continued down the same road he was on. For a while, he stared at the video game my husband was playing while I tried to talk to him about some of the details. I got up to go into the kitchen, then he had the audacity to ask if I was going to help him or not. Like hell!
So, imagine you have a coworker that comes into your office asking for help with a software problem. He can't find the bug. You begin to see why it's so complicated and you ask him a simple question about the intent of the programming and he yells at you. Then you ask him to recheck the memo from the boss regarding priorities, the boss's instructions, in fact. Your coworker ignores you and proceeds down his ill-advised path of not doing what the boss has requested. In fact, if he were to follow your boss's instructions, life would be considerably simpler for him.
You get him past that hurdle. When you stand up to pull a book off your shelf, he sits down in your swivel chair. You drag the other chair across the cubicle and you huddle over the problem with him at your desk. While you explain what you're seeing, he pulls out his iPhone and starts checking his Facebook page. You stop, lean back, then get up to get another cup of coffee before he notices you. You're almost out of the doorway when he turns around in your swivel seat and asks, "Well, so are you going to help me or what?"
I've worked with that kind of guy. I've stood in the break room talking about that kind of guy. I've watched that kind of guy get fired.
So why should I put up with that kind of behavior from my son? I don't. I'm not making any friends tonight, but I guarantee that I'll have the gratitude of a number of coworkers from the future. You're welcome. It was the least I could do.
Thank you for listening, jb
It wouldn't be so bad for me except that he asked me for help, then he yelled at me because he couldn't figure out the answer, i.e., I wouldn't tell him the answer. Then, when I told him a general hint, to read the directions, he ignored me and continued down the same road he was on. For a while, he stared at the video game my husband was playing while I tried to talk to him about some of the details. I got up to go into the kitchen, then he had the audacity to ask if I was going to help him or not. Like hell!
So, imagine you have a coworker that comes into your office asking for help with a software problem. He can't find the bug. You begin to see why it's so complicated and you ask him a simple question about the intent of the programming and he yells at you. Then you ask him to recheck the memo from the boss regarding priorities, the boss's instructions, in fact. Your coworker ignores you and proceeds down his ill-advised path of not doing what the boss has requested. In fact, if he were to follow your boss's instructions, life would be considerably simpler for him.
You get him past that hurdle. When you stand up to pull a book off your shelf, he sits down in your swivel chair. You drag the other chair across the cubicle and you huddle over the problem with him at your desk. While you explain what you're seeing, he pulls out his iPhone and starts checking his Facebook page. You stop, lean back, then get up to get another cup of coffee before he notices you. You're almost out of the doorway when he turns around in your swivel seat and asks, "Well, so are you going to help me or what?"
I've worked with that kind of guy. I've stood in the break room talking about that kind of guy. I've watched that kind of guy get fired.
So why should I put up with that kind of behavior from my son? I don't. I'm not making any friends tonight, but I guarantee that I'll have the gratitude of a number of coworkers from the future. You're welcome. It was the least I could do.
Thank you for listening, jb
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