Special Snowflake Stories

[cabbagegirl28]

This could go here or in the "Drive you crazy" thread, but I'm still irritated so I'm going with SS.

I sing in a community chorus of 80 people with 8 voice sections: 1st and 2nd sopranos, 1st and 2nd altos, etc. Tonight was our first concert and somehow every single 1st soprano but me called in sick. During warm ups our director announced that I would be miked since I would be singing my parts alone. One of the 2nd sopranos offered to step in and help but the director reassured her that I knew my parts and would be fine.

Except when it came to my first descant line that I was really looking forward to singing, she started singing it along with me, off key and off rhythm. The second time several people hushed her and afterwards I saw the director talking to her. I don't know if she really wanted to help or just wanted part of the spotlight, but she made things worse, not better.

Ah yes, the second soprano with aspirations for loftier places.  I was in the second soprano group when I sang and there was always a lot of girls convinced that they should have have been or could have been firsts. Some were still good in the second in terms of holding their notes in opposition to the firsts and just complained verbally, but others "had trouble" and would stray onto the firsts' part leaving the rest of us to pick up their slack.  Just got them scolded, not moved (the ones that actually could hit those notes were actually good enough to understand that there is skill and value in singing second) so I'm not sure why they'd persist in trying.

As someone who's done a bit of choral work...why would they want to do that?  I honestly don't get it...if you're a 2nd soprano, why would you want to sing 1st?

These people considered 1st soprano to be the better part.  They saw it as evidence of being a better singer,  i.e. they believed that being able to hit high notes means that you are good at singing.  In one of my choral groups, the solos always went to girls from the 1st sopranos unless it was firmly an alto solo, though I would argue that the girls in that group at the time were simply better singers than the 2nd sopranos who were auditioning.  Another reason is that one of them thought the first soprano part was more feminine and pretty.

If anyone in my college choir was that snowflakey (not likely), my director would have stopped everyone once and played the right part. If he heard it again, he'd have people he knew were doing that sing the part by themselves in front of everyone. Chances are the people goofing around musically would accidentally sing the wrong part in nervousness. We already have altos who switch between Alto I and Sop. II (he told me and two other girls to do that); we don't need any more confusion.

[Adelaide]

We had the "Special Soprano" problem in my church choir, except the people who sang 1st soprano were very SS. I only sang 1st on occasion and so wasn't welcomed fully into the core group, but it was seriously a clique unto itself. There were three soprano groups and I was typically part of the 2nd unless they needed very loud high notes (that I could reach). The 1st sopranos were together constantly and were always having other people fetch them water and hot tea and were always going on about their voices and the strain/difficulty of their parts. I wanted to tell them to loosen up because we weren't Celtic Woman, but I kept it to myself.

[CakeBeret]

Salesman SS.

We bought our car from a Nissan dealership two years ago. For the past year, several area Nissan dealerships have been spamming me, claiming that they want to buy my car back, they're just so desperate for it and they'll pay top dollar, etc. Yeah, I'm sure they're that desperate for a late-model Sentra. I know that they're just trying to get me on the lot to try and sell me a new car.

The other day, DH got a call from one of the dealerships asking us to come in and talk about selling the car. He said no and hung up. So what did they do? Sent me an email confirming our "appointment". Bull hockey.

The kicker was a couple days later, when we got an email from a salesman saying we'd missed our "appointment" and we needed to call him to reschedule. Noooo, thank you.

I love Nissan but this dealership carp is really starting to sour me on them. I also had a service advisor tell me I should just buy a new car, because I was having trouble with my gas cap. Really.

[weeblewobble]

The first chair/soprano musical issues get so much worse when parents are involved.  So many parents have their emotions/ego wrapped up in their child's performance and status.  And more often than not, they don't have a realistic view of their child's skills. 

One case that comes to mind was in high school, when I was in band, a new girl joined the clarinet section and when she "auditioned" for her spot* she was placed in the third section.  Her mother hit. the. roof.   Didn't director know that New Girl was first chair at her old school?  (No, New Girl never mentioned.)  Didn't director know that New Girl was better than any student in our band?  (Nope.)  Didn't director know that New Girl's Mother was once first chair soloist violinist in the Such and Such Philharmonic?  (No, we doubt very much that was the case.  But if it was, New Girl didn't inherit her mother's talent.) New Girl's Mother threatened to go to the principal, the school board, the media, the state's music education association and the UN. (OK, maybe not that last one.)  Director told her to do what she needed to do.  New Girl, who was greatly embarrassed by her mother's antics, stayed in the third section.

A few weeks later, the choir held its auditions to place the students in first and second sections, and the whole thing started again when New Girl was place in second soprano.  Only this time, New Girl's Mother claimed to have once been a lead performer in a major metropolitan opera company.

I wondered how she had time for that with her extensive violin career.


(*She would have been accepted just by joining, but the director wanted to grade her skills so he knew where to seat her.)

[2littlemonkeys]

MIL and I encountered a SS the other day.  I still don't know what her deal was.

We were leaving a parking lot.  It was pretty busy and there was traffic coming from both directions of the lot and feeding into the main exit from the lot to the street. Cars were taking turns going into the main exit and MIL stopped to let a woman coming in from the other direction go ahead of her.

The woman responded with a one-finger salute.

What?   

The whole way home, we were trying to think of a reason and just couldn't come up with one.

[Winterlight]

I can't decide if this person was a SS or within her rights as a customer  The day before Thanksgiving I ran into a small specialty supermarket.  They had all their checkout lines open and all but one were being used for ringing up big orders.  I had 2 items so got in line in the single express checkout line behind a women with 3 or 4 items.  Once she was rung up, she then got her wallet out, and took out a gift card, (prepaid Mastercard type thing) asked the cashier if she should use it like a credit card.  They tried it that way, it wouldn't go through, so she then tried it as a debit twice using 2 different pins.  There's now  3 people behind me. 

Customer says I have cash, but let me try this other card, so gets her wallet back out, pulls out a different gift card, and goes through the same process again.  During this time the customer does acknowledge she is holding me up and says to me she gets a lot of these cards from her clients but always has a hard time using them but since she has some time on her lunch hour she thought she would give them a go.  And reaches for a third card in her wallet.  At this point the floor manager comes over and says she'll take customer over to customer service to see if they can complete her order there since the express line now has 7 or 8 people in line.  After holding up the express line for 10 minutes, Customer says, oh I don't have time for that, here is cash to pay for my transaction. 

Though I thought the floor manager and cashier were going to brain her for a minute, they said ok and them gave each of us in line piece of chocolate to thank us for our patience.

I think she was a SS for picking a busy time, holding up the express lane and not saying after a couple of attempts that she'd try the card another time.

[snowflake]

This could go here or in the "Drive you crazy" thread, but I'm still irritated so I'm going with SS.

I sing in a community chorus of 80 people with 8 voice sections: 1st and 2nd sopranos, 1st and 2nd altos, etc. Tonight was our first concert and somehow every single 1st soprano but me called in sick. During warm ups our director announced that I would be miked since I would be singing my parts alone. One of the 2nd sopranos offered to step in and help but the director reassured her that I knew my parts and would be fine.

Except when it came to my first descant line that I was really looking forward to singing, she started singing it along with me, off key and off rhythm. The second time several people hushed her and afterwards I saw the director talking to her. I don't know if she really wanted to help or just wanted part of the spotlight, but she made things worse, not better.

If the director told her not to, it's probably for a good reason.  So definitely snowflakey.

This sort of reminds me of a director I once had who would do "fun" things like transpose the soprano line lower for the altos and then make the sopranos sing the alto line even though it was written right at the bottom of the alto range.  As you guessed, said director was an alto and was bitter about sopranos always getting the melody. 

Can I just say, that her arrangements were not even close to what she thought they were.  But of course she thought she was the next John Williams.  (She was getting her degree in Music Composition.)

She also felt that all sopranos only sang high because they didn't practice enough to sing properly.  She would say, "Well this will be motivation for you to REALLY practice."  I've been singing in choirs since was was 10.  I had private lessons in high school/college.  By that point (I was mid-20s) I was pretty dang sure I'm made that way.  Don't get me wrong, I love to sing the harmony because it makes being a soprano more interesting but I still can't dip below the treble clef any easier than an alto can belt a high F. 

[gingerzing]

I am still trying to read all of these.  (Came to the party late)

My mom had a SS neighbor until about 6 months ago.  Sarah had the left side of the duplex and my mom owns the right side of the duplex.  Overall Sarah was mostly a nice neighbor with some odd minor family drama occasionally.  She also, apparently, had a major "retail therapy" addiction.  And would often bemoan the fact that she wanted to do work on her side of the duplex but only if Mom did the same on her side and would pay 3/4 of the bill.    er, how about no?
About 3 years ago, things started getting rough financially (some of the retail therapy stuff was repossed when I was visiting) and Sarah needed to put her house on the market.  So one day while Mom was at work, Sarah planted some bushes in front of Mom's living room window and moved some of Mom's garden stones around.   *for the record, this is NOT a neighborhood with a HOA.  And Mom usually uses potted plants for most of the area in front of the window.*
Mom came home and hit the roof.  First, she never liked bushes planted next to the front of a house.  Second, these were planted RIGHT up against the brick.  Third, they were anything that Mom really liked.  And Fourth, right...get out of my yard! 

I get the whole curb appeal, but Mom's space is fine. Sarah just wanted matching front plants apparently.  Oh, and she was less than thrilled when Mom tore out the bushes.  (Mom may have offered them back to her, but not sure)

[HermioneGranger]

Sarah is lucky she didn't get hit with a bill for the removal of the bushes. 

[gingerzing]

Sarah is lucky she didn't get hit with a bill for the removal of the bushes.

true, then again Mom just ripped them out by hand.  Basically they were quite small and easy to pull out with little effort.

Oh and basically told Sarah not to ever do it again.   Politely, but still.
 

[GSNW]

We have a new SS co-worker this year.  Things that are expected of all of us do not apply to him.  He has a billion excuses for not acting like a member of a team.  He is better than you and wants to make sure you know it!  He is certainly free from the rules that fetter lesser humanity.  Examples:

College week on campus, we all wear college shirts.  Cool co-worker is wearing a Duke shirt.
SS:  (eyeballing) Huh.  Did you go to Duke?
CCW:  Nope, just a fan of Coach K.
SS:  Yeah, well, practically my whole FAMILY went to Duke.  (rolls eyes)

This conversation was between SS and Other Teacher (I was standing right there).
OT:  Our department is meeting for 30 minutes after school next Tuesday to go over common planning.
SS:  (pained sigh) Ugh, I have a media event that night.  I need to nap, no can do.

The best one?  SS shows up late to a parent conference with a bowl of cereal and thermos of milk in hand, pours the milk, and proceeds to crunch and slurp away for the duration.  After parents left, Awesome Co-worker tries to educate SS.
AC:  I can't believe you did that.  Very unprofessional.
SS:  Whaaat?
AC:  Eating in a conference?  Seriously?
SS:  I don't know what to tell you - I only have a 20-minute window for breakfast.

[Morrigan]

Christmas Shopping at Great Lakes Crossing (huge mall in Michigan).

Encountered a SS (a group, actually...)  A whole circle's worth, blocking most of the walking aisle, instead of standing in the center of the aisle (where benches and venders usually are, but in this case, there was enough room for all dozen of them to stand and gab without blocking anyone."

As my mom and I walked up to them, there was a space big enough for two people to walk side by side, and only if they walked *literally* up against the wall, where upon they'd almost immediately hit a window of the next store, and there's usually enough room for 5 people to walk abreast).  When we reached them, I said, "excuse me, could you please move?  You're blocking the aisle."

After we'd walked a good 10 feet, one of the SS's yelled to us "you could have just walked by us, like everyone else."


Between them, and people racing us to get to the register first makes me glad I don't have much more X-Mas shopping left.

[jedikaiti]

We have a new SS co-worker this year.  Things that are expected of all of us do not apply to him.  He has a billion excuses for not acting like a member of a team.  He is better than you and wants to make sure you know it!  He is certainly free from the rules that fetter lesser humanity.  Examples:

College week on campus, we all wear college shirts.  Cool co-worker is wearing a Duke shirt.
SS:  (eyeballing) Huh.  Did you go to Duke?
CCW:  Nope, just a fan of Coach K.
SS:  Yeah, well, practically my whole FAMILY went to Duke.  (rolls eyes)

This conversation was between SS and Other Teacher (I was standing right there).
OT:  Our department is meeting for 30 minutes after school next Tuesday to go over common planning.
SS:  (pained sigh) Ugh, I have a media event that night.  I need to nap, no can do.

The best one?  SS shows up late to a parent conference with a bowl of cereal and thermos of milk in hand, pours the milk, and proceeds to crunch and slurp away for the duration.  After parents left, Awesome Co-worker tries to educate SS.
AC:  I can't believe you did that.  Very unprofessional.
SS:  Whaaat?
AC:  Eating in a conference?  Seriously?
SS:  I don't know what to tell you - I only have a 20-minute window for breakfast.

I can't wait for his debut on the Professional Darwinism thread!

[Iris]

We have a new SS co-worker this year.  Things that are expected of all of us do not apply to him.  He has a billion excuses for not acting like a member of a team.  He is better than you and wants to make sure you know it!  He is certainly free from the rules that fetter lesser humanity.  Examples:

College week on campus, we all wear college shirts.  Cool co-worker is wearing a Duke shirt.
SS:  (eyeballing) Huh.  Did you go to Duke?
CCW:  Nope, just a fan of Coach K.
SS:  Yeah, well, practically my whole FAMILY went to Duke.  (rolls eyes)

This conversation was between SS and Other Teacher (I was standing right there).
OT:  Our department is meeting for 30 minutes after school next Tuesday to go over common planning.
SS:  (pained sigh) Ugh, I have a media event that night.  I need to nap, no can do.

The best one?  SS shows up late to a parent conference with a bowl of cereal and thermos of milk in hand, pours the milk, and proceeds to crunch and slurp away for the duration.  After parents left, Awesome Co-worker tries to educate SS.
AC:  I can't believe you did that.  Very unprofessional.
SS:  Whaaat?
AC:  Eating in a conference?  Seriously?
SS:  I don't know what to tell you - I only have a 20-minute window for breakfast.

A parent conference in no way forms part of a 'breakfast window'. He in fact had a 20 minute - parent conference window for breakfast. If that's not enough, get up earlier.

I suspect that this guy will show up in both the PD AND brain hurt threads, plus maybe a few of his very own...

[Dindrane]

I was pretty dang sure I'm made that way.  Don't get me wrong, I love to sing the harmony because it makes being a soprano more interesting but I still can't dip below the treble clef any easier than an alto can belt a high F.

I actually suspect the altos trying to hit a high F would have an easier time of it. I took voice lessons very briefly in college (about a year total). Prior to taking voice lessons, I had a very small range, and was a very decided alto. By the time I stopped taking voice lessons, I was singing more like a mezzo soprano. In other words, I could hit very high notes, but it was extremely difficult and uncomfortable for me, and I wasn't always consistent about it. On the other hand, if I had continued to take lessons and practice, I might have been able to build my comfort level at the top of my range.

But at some point, it's just not possible to sing any lower. I call myself an alto because my lowest singing notes are low, not because I'm incapable of singing high. My favorite songs on the radio to sing along to are almost all sung by men, and I'm not even singing an octave up to manage it.

Personally, I think the first soprano (or soprano, period) being the "better" part in the minds of some is for the same reasons why the first violin section (or violins period) is "better" in an orchestra. Both have highly visible parts, either because they are hitting the highest notes or have the melody line (or both). But anyone who is going to perform as part of an ensemble has no business coveting other parts to the point where they screw other people up. Sometimes, in any given piece of music, you don't get to have the most fun part. The trick to enjoying it is to find what is fun about the part you do have, because 95% of the time, there's something that's legitimately pretty awesome.

Unless you play the cello and it's Pachelbel's Canon. Then there is like negative eleventy million awesome. Times three, since everybody else gets at least a little awesome, but you get the same 8 quarter notes for like 10 minutes (which, of course, feels like approximately the rest of your life).