Getting to Me

Everything has been lately and I know why. I'm sick of school. Rather, I'm sick of the baggage in school; the stupid kids, the ridiculous assignments, all of it. I thought these last two weeks would be fondly remembered for their lazy sunny afternoons. Instead, I just want to be done. French 203 is the problem. The UO does a terrible job with its French assignments. Rather than have an evenly distributed set of homework and projects, they tend to clump everything together. Case in point: three weeks ago, we had a test, writing assignment and proposal for our final oral presentation all due on the same day. Fortunately, I have an instructor who thinks as much of the organization of our department as I do, so he allowed things to be turned in a little late.

We have our final oral presentations tomorrow and Wednesday. This always means that some groups are ready to go Tuesday and some haven't even begun theirs yet. My group spoke to our instructor because we'll be taping our presentation. That involves editing and other minutiae so he agreed to let us go on Wednesday. Three groups are going tomorrow, three on Wednesday. The class hadn't signed up for times, so at the end of class today he just asked which groups wanted to go tomorrow. Only one group raised their hand. Allow me to interject that we've known (and should have been working on) our projects would be due this week since the beginning of the term. It was also stressed to us the amount of work involved, so we better start early.

My instructor looked for two other groups that needed to present tomorrow. Finally, another group raised their hand. Then, silence. From behind me, a girl who I have grown to despise because of the way she yells answers without raising her hand, says completely unprovoked, "Remember we're going on Friday, we talked about it last week!" I shivered with frustration. First of all, she does this kind of crap all the time. She finds ways of speaking loudly about how she was allowed to turn something in late, what grade she got on her test and how she just can't wait to be graduating. I kid you not, one time she hollered at my instructor from the back of the class, "[name]! I got a 97 on my test but you wrote 96! Can I get that changed?!" Here's the thing - she's so completely over-the-top that I usually don't pay attention. Besides, if I let myself get angry at everything this girl said, I would already be in jail for attempted Gouging Out of the Eyes With a Blunt Icepick.

My face flushed. I'm used to her bullshit, but for whatever reason, that comment really got to me. I remained calm, I didn't glare at her or tell her where to stick it. I was, however, visibly perturbed. My friend and fellow group mate leaned over and said, "If you're not gonna hit her, I will". That made me laugh which was precisely what I needed.

The point of ultimate frustration came when, if you'll remember, there was still one group that needed to present tomorrow, but the other groups weren't raising their hands. Instead, they were looking around with this pathetic look on their face like, "aw shucks, we can't go tomorrow". My instructor said, "okay, [you] and [you], which is it going to be? Class is over, I need an answer." The two groups regarded each other, neither giving any ground. My instructor chose for them. "Fine, [you] are going tomorrow".

I was ready to head out when one of the members of the ill-fated group yelled, "What about Patrick's group? They're like the super group. Why can't they go tomorrow?" While I can't argue with her observation that my group is the super group (all three of us are A students and good at French), the fact that this little bitch didn't prepare like she should have, was desperate to replace her group tomorrow and chose to single me out in front of the class after I was still pissed at the other girl and hung over from yesterday meant one thing: it was on.

I glared at her. "What?", she snidely remarked, "It's not like you guys aren't done or anything". So here's the deal: there is no way she could have known that. This girl participated zilch during class discussions, is routinely absent and obviously doesn't give a shit about French. I was puzzled and said, "Actually, we still have to edit our video and...". Before I could finish she cut me off, "WHAT?!?! You're doing a VIDEO?! You can't do a VIDEO! (calling to the instructor) Patrick's group is doing a VIDEO?!?!" I was thrilled she was so clueless as to not read the very clear instructions regarding our presentation that outlined the process for a video presentation. My instructor just shrugged, "Yes [name], anyone can do a video who wants to. It is in the instructions". She fumed at me, "That's lame. It's not like you didn't have all the time to do your video". My eyes narrowed, "Are you trying to implicate me in some kind of conspiracy? Because YOU weren't prepared, because YOU didn't read the instructions? You know what, you're right. It is a conspiracy. My group has been plotting all along, spending hours finding ways to make sure you had to go on Tuesday. Or how 'bout this: try coming to class once in a while and being prepared?? How about taking some responsibility for yourself??" I bolted out of the door before I could turn into a ball of teeth and fists and rainbows.

I caught up with my instructor. I felt embarrassed because I really let loose on her. "I'm sorry about that", I apologized, "it's just, I'm having a bad day and she got in the way I guess." My instructor smirked, "It seems to me that she isn't prepared. I'm looking forward to her presentation. Don't worry about it, but don't make it a habit".

Patrick: 1, Stupid Girl: 0