Damn, it's so frakking easy to press the Enter button after you've put in the subject line. *facepalm* Gotta stop doing that!
Sometimes I wish I could be more assertive. Like, that when I really didn't want to do something, I'd speak up and say so rather than letting the other person walk all over me. And it's not only in terms of decisions or actions that are mutually beneficial. I particularly have trouble when what I want or don't want to do is
not beneficial to the other person, and when my acceptance of whatever they want would benefit them in some way but not me.
Yeah, I probably didn't explain that very well, so let me give an example. At school I work for an online newspaper. It's not a job, per se, so much as it is a course that I will get credit for when all is said and done. (Besides, it's over and above my separate and regular job, and it's also part of my journalism degree.) I don't get paid, but I do get graded. Each week, we are assigned specific roles according to what needs to be done to put the paper together. There's a team of managing editors, a multimedia group and a bunch of reporters and producers. The reporters research the article assigned to them by the managing editors, contact the necessary sources and then write the article. The producers research and write sidebar material and take care of the photos and the interactive that go with the story. They can call up sources and arrange interviews for the reporter - since the calling and hearing back is typically what takes the most time - but strictly speaking that's not their responsibility. Strictly speaking, therefore, the job of producer is easier and less time-consuming than the job of reporter. Remember that, because it's important.
Last week was my job to be reporter. My producer and I worked very well together and put out an article which, while not stellar, was acceptable and was graded well. This week I was to be producer, and I was distinctly relieved at that fact. School is winding down for the summer but I still have a hell of a lot to do. I've also taken on extra shifts at work since one of our reporters has bronchitis and can't come in for the next two weeks. (Teeny-tiny community newspaper, I'm subeditor but I also report and do paginating and stuff. Whenever anyone's missing for any reason, we feel their loss keenly.) So producer is a nice little job that should fit well into my schedule. I've done it before so I know what it entails.
Enter the reporter I'm supposed to be working with. Almost immediately after we received our assignments she emailed me and "asked" - note use of quotation marks, since it wasn't so much a request as it was a demand - me to switch positions with her. Meaning, I would be the reporter and responsible for chasing all the sources and writing the article, while she got off comparatively easy as producer. The reason why she wanted to switch? She was "too busy."
I wrote back and said, not in so many words but essentially, NO FRAKKING WAY. The too busy excuse has
never been an acceptable one and our professors have always made it clear to us that just because we have lives outside of school, the rules and deadlines cannot be bent to suit us. I enumerated all the things I had to do (remaining assignments, extra shifts, etc.) as a demonstration that I, too, happened to have a ton on my plate. (This is another thing I don't get, how many of my classmates seem to assume that I have so much free-floating time. Trust me, I
don't. Haven't they ever wondered why as soon as we're given a break, I pull out a book and read? It's because I can barely read half a page at other times.)
Anyway, I sent off the email and figured that was the end of it, that she would respect the schedule and respect the fact that I wasn't exactly sitting around twiddling my thumbs either. Well, I couldn't have been more wrong. Respect? For-frakking-get it. Ten minutes later as I'm about to run out the door for work I get a phone call. It's her. She basically bullies me into taking the reporter's position, but she does it in such a subconscious way that it's almost impossible to say no. I swear to the flying spaghetti monster I never should have answered that phone in the first place. Maybe it would've proved to her how busy I am, and she would have given up. But no, I chose to answer, and this is the price I've paid.
So I'm now reporter, and I have to figure out a way to contact three sources outside of business hours and interview them. Because guess what, I
work during business hours most days! And when I'm not working, I'm in class! My last hope was that the prof would nix the idea when she emailed him about it, but no, he's all for it. Typical.
Note that I'm not trying to imply she's not busy. I'm sure she is. What I resent is the idea that she bullied me into it, that she barely gave me a chance to object, that she completely refused to believe that I don't sit around in my apartment all day watching soap operas. Because honestly, that's what she made my life sound like. I'd sure like to meet the owner of that life and ask them how they do it!
I wish I could have said no more persuasively. I wish she would have believed me. I wish I wasn't having to rant about this in the first place. But apparently my lack of assertiveness lends people to thinking that I'm not busy, and that they can push me around to suit their needs. Great.
And I just got the weirdest piece of spam. At least I think it's spam. I'm not taking a chance in opening it to find out for sure, anyway.
okay
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