Special Snowflake Stories

[snowdragon]

I just returned from my history final. The teacher had to throw out one student because she brought her three year old child who.would.not.shut.up.  He was so loud that  even putting the mother and child in the hall was still too loud for most.  The mom was furious about it because we were discriminating against her, as a mother, and "just because I have a child does not mean I should fail the course" - So the rest of us should?
 
  Even after being told she could take the  exam in a room alone she was not satisfied...and went stomping off, yelling about how we were discriminating against her because she is a parent.
  It would have been annoying but not fatal for her to bring the kid, if he would be quiet so we could take the exam...but allowing your child to talk in an "outside voice" during a final exam, while you answer him in a normal,conversational tone, plants this person firmly in the SS  territory for me.

[greencat]

I just returned from my history final. The teacher had to throw out one student because she brought her three year old child who.would.not.shut.up.  He was so loud that  even putting the mother and child in the hall was still too loud for most.  The mom was furious about it because we were discriminating against her, as a mother, and "just because I have a child does not mean I should fail the course" - So the rest of us should?
 
  Even after being told she could take the  exam in a room alone she was not satisfied...and went stomping off, yelling about how we were discriminating against her because she is a parent.
  It would have been annoying but not fatal for her to bring the kid, if he would be quiet so we could take the exam...but allowing your child to talk in an "outside voice" during a final exam, while you answer him in a normal,conversational tone, plants this person firmly in the SS  territory for me.

If I had been the professor, I would have failed the woman solely on the basis that she was talking during the exam.  Final exams are something you know the timing of months in advance - she could have and should have arranged a sitter and a back-up sitter and a back-up back-up sitter.

[nuit93]

I just returned from my history final. The teacher had to throw out one student because she brought her three year old child who.would.not.shut.up.  He was so loud that  even putting the mother and child in the hall was still too loud for most.  The mom was furious about it because we were discriminating against her, as a mother, and "just because I have a child does not mean I should fail the course" - So the rest of us should?
 
  Even after being told she could take the  exam in a room alone she was not satisfied...and went stomping off, yelling about how we were discriminating against her because she is a parent.
  It would have been annoying but not fatal for her to bring the kid, if he would be quiet so we could take the exam...but allowing your child to talk in an "outside voice" during a final exam, while you answer him in a normal,conversational tone, plants this person firmly in the SS  territory for me.

Isn't that against most university policies?

[snowdragon]

I just returned from my history final. The teacher had to throw out one student because she brought her three year old child who.would.not.shut.up.  He was so loud that  even putting the mother and child in the hall was still too loud for most.  The mom was furious about it because we were discriminating against her, as a mother, and "just because I have a child does not mean I should fail the course" - So the rest of us should?
 
  Even after being told she could take the  exam in a room alone she was not satisfied...and went stomping off, yelling about how we were discriminating against her because she is a parent.
  It would have been annoying but not fatal for her to bring the kid, if he would be quiet so we could take the exam...but allowing your child to talk in an "outside voice" during a final exam, while you answer him in a normal,conversational tone, plants this person firmly in the SS  territory for me.

Isn't that against most university policies?

Which is why I think she's an SS - especially since the prof offered her an alternative.

[PastryGoddess]

I just returned from my history final. The teacher had to throw out one student because she brought her three year old child who.would.not.shut.up.  He was so loud that  even putting the mother and child in the hall was still too loud for most.  The mom was furious about it because we were discriminating against her, as a mother, and "just because I have a child does not mean I should fail the course" - So the rest of us should?
 
  Even after being told she could take the  exam in a room alone she was not satisfied...and went stomping off, yelling about how we were discriminating against her because she is a parent.
  It would have been annoying but not fatal for her to bring the kid, if he would be quiet so we could take the exam...but allowing your child to talk in an "outside voice" during a final exam, while you answer him in a normal,conversational tone, plants this person firmly in the SS  territory for me.

Isn't that against most university policies?

Not any university policies that I've heard of.  Lack of planning on the SSMom's part, should not constitute interruptions to other students.  And I'm not sure of how OP's school works, but at my school you have multiple ways to take a final including via computer and by hand in a large auditorium with multiple dates offered.

[Shalamar]

She brought her KID to the exam?   Words fail me.   

[ladyknight1]

I just returned from my history final. The teacher had to throw out one student because she brought her three year old child who.would.not.shut.up.  He was so loud that  even putting the mother and child in the hall was still too loud for most.  The mom was furious about it because we were discriminating against her, as a mother, and "just because I have a child does not mean I should fail the course" - So the rest of us should?
 
  Even after being told she could take the  exam in a room alone she was not satisfied...and went stomping off, yelling about how we were discriminating against her because she is a parent.
  It would have been annoying but not fatal for her to bring the kid, if he would be quiet so we could take the exam...but allowing your child to talk in an "outside voice" during a final exam, while you answer him in a normal,conversational tone, plants this person firmly in the SS  territory for me.

Isn't that against most university policies?

Not any university policies that I've heard of.  Lack of planning on the SSMom's part, should not constitute interruptions to other students.  And I'm not sure of how OP's school works, but at my school you have multiple ways to take a final including via computer and by hand in a large auditorium with multiple dates offered.

In my experience, it depends on the college and subject. Online courses will most likely have online testing as well. Many of our colleges require exams, especially final exams, to be taken in the computer labs under stringent test conditions. No professor/teaching assistant at my university would allow a child in the room during an exam.

[jedikaiti]

I just returned from my history final. The teacher had to throw out one student because she brought her three year old child who.would.not.shut.up.  He was so loud that  even putting the mother and child in the hall was still too loud for most.  The mom was furious about it because we were discriminating against her, as a mother, and "just because I have a child does not mean I should fail the course" - So the rest of us should?
 
  Even after being told she could take the  exam in a room alone she was not satisfied...and went stomping off, yelling about how we were discriminating against her because she is a parent.
  It would have been annoying but not fatal for her to bring the kid, if he would be quiet so we could take the exam...but allowing your child to talk in an "outside voice" during a final exam, while you answer him in a normal,conversational tone, plants this person firmly in the SS  territory for me.

Isn't that against most university policies?

Not any university policies that I've heard of.  Lack of planning on the SSMom's part, should not constitute interruptions to other students.  And I'm not sure of how OP's school works, but at my school you have multiple ways to take a final including via computer and by hand in a large auditorium with multiple dates offered.

At the last university I attended, you had an assigned time and place to take the exam unless the prof decided to do it online or as a take-home; that could be changed if need be (too many exams on a given day, disability accommodations, etc.), but unless you were terribly ill and had a doctor's note, all arrangements had to be made well in advance. If your babysitter bailed on you at the last minute, that's one thing - talk to the prof and make alternate arrangements. But expecting to be allowed to disrupt everyone else in the class while they're trying to take the exam? VERY VERY SS. Fail-worthy.

[Slartibartfast]

If the babysitter bails on you at the last minute, you show up a bit early (if possible) and apologize thoroughly to the professor.  You show him/her how you have done as much as you could to ensure your kid stays quiet (bring quiet toys/books, etc.) and you tell how willing you are to take the test at another time if he/she prefers or you can take the test then and hope the kid stays quiet or you can take the test in another room.  You explain again about how your sitter bailed on you at the last minute and you're really stuck.  Since you are always conscientious about being on time to class and are a model polite student, the professor is likely to believe you and may make as many accommodations as he/she can.

What you don't do is to show up like nothing is wrong and then annoy every single one of your peers while you're supposed to be taking your test.

[Iris]

We had a school excursion last week. Pick up time after the excursion was 5. That was on the note sent home before the excursion and on the reminder note, plus we let the children know when we were 15 minutes away so they could call their parents to confirm that we were on time (all had their phones with them). Note that this was not a compulsory excursion.

The vast majority of parents were waiting for their kids when the buses arrived back at school, but half a dozen were 10-15 minutes late. I understand that it's easy for that to happen so no big deal, but not a one apologised or thanked us for waiting. The worst was a woman who had a meeting and so didn't even leave her meeting until 10 minutes after the buses were back at the school and almost every child had left. She was 45 minutes late in the end. No apology, no thanks, nothing. Just pull up and let her daughter jump in the car.

If we had returned early that would have been fine, but this woman knew for two MONTHS what time she would have to be at the school to pick up her child. Yet she was quite miffed at having to leave her meeting, apparently  .

[mmswm]

Why do interstate highways bring out the most Special Snowflakes Ever?  I'm 1250 miles into what if ultimately a journey of a tad more than 4000 miles.  Granted, I'm taking a bit of the long way (Seattle, WA; San Diego, CA; Ft. Worth, TX, Atlanta, GA; then Miami, FL), but between winter driving conditions over the Rockies and wanting to visit a few people, I felt that the extra couple hundred miles was worth it.  So, today, as I was closing in on the final stretch into San Diego (yay!!!  I get to hang out with one of my most favoritest people EVER) I encountered the SSiest driver I've ever seen. 

A bit of background: Tejon Pass on I-5 can be quite dicey.  The southbound assent is rather steep (reported 6% grade over 5 miles, total vertical assent 2613 feet over 11.6 miles).  There are 4 travel lanes.  The two an the right are generally reserved for semis, RV's and vehicles that are towing something.  The third lane is generally for slower moving passenger vehicles and the 4th for faster moving passengers vehicles. As you begin the southbound assent, drivers are warned to turn off their a/c's in order to avoid overheating and there are water stations every quarter to half mile, along with a number of highway personel to assist if required.  I'm no longer an inexperienced mountain driver.  While I haven't been driving in these sorts of conditions for a long time, I am otherwise a skilled driver and gained quite a bit of experience travelling across the US earlier this year when I drove through the northern Rockies (Montana, Idaho) and the Cascades (Washington State, Oregon), and, of course, all the mountain passes in OR and CA on this drive going south. By now, I've got a general idea of how my car handles under these conditions.  Tejon Pass is by far the steepest grade over the longest distance of all the passes I've navigated thus far.  There are, of course, passes that are worse, but those are part of the reason why I'm not taking the shortest route from point A to point B.  I drive a 1999 Honda Civic with a manual transmission.  /end background.

So, I'm happily motoring up the pass. Even though my car is packed with as much stuff as I could cram in it, I was still able to maintain 60-65mph during most of the assent (except when the posted limits on certain curves were lower).  Since I was travelling at the posted speed limit, I spent most of my time in the far left (4th) lane, actively passing slower traffic on my right. When I was just a couple miles from the apex of the pass, this pick-up truck came barreling up behind me.  There was a pretty solid line of traffic to my right at the time, so I couldn't have moved over even if I wanted to.  Besides that, I was travelling at the posted speed limit.  For this guy to want to pass me, he would have to be speeding, and with law enforcement out in force, that would not be a wise move.  Anyway, I continued to climb the hill, looking for a space in the lane to my right for me to safely move over, even though I would have to slow down (which I did NOT want to do while going uphill...which maybe SS driver was thinking the same thing, but I think the difference here is that he was speeding and I was not).  Anyway, it took about a mile before there was a break in traffic large enough for me to move out of his way.  In that minute, this guy was flashing his lights at me, swerving, honking, and shaking his fist and making other gestures.  I could not believe that this guy was willing to make that big of a ruckus on a stretch of road that is so steep and icky that semis were chugging up it at 15mph and the DOT sees fit to equip with the sheer number of emergency stations that exist on that stretch.

I suppose though, that Karma won in the end.  Not too long after he got around me, the cops had him pulled over.

[sunnygirl]

The kids were awesome. No disipline probs at all, and with 1st through 5th grades, that's kinda saying something. The parents on the other hand...

My workplace runs massive events for children (and parents) once a month, and I usually volunteer to help run them because they are very enjoyable. We've never, ever had a problem with a kid behaving badly - some minor rambunctiousness like running and generally getting overexcited, but no tantrums or SS behaviour. All the bad behaviour comes from the parents. Mostly either sneaking away from the group into parts of the building they are not allowed and then complaining when caught, or refusing to watch/control their children the tiniest bit (completely ignoring that the kids are running or wandering into off-limits rooms) on the grounds the staff leading the team are in charge. Even though we make it very clear both verbally and in writing that we are not responsible for their children and that they must keep control at all times.

Of course, some schmuck and his wife try to come through as we are still setting up at 7:30.  I told the man that he was more than welcome to buy something, but I got to pick three things to go with him...including the flamingo yard ornament made of pink tinsel.  They wandered off quickly.

I probably would have taken you up on the flamingo lawn ornament

Me too. Totally jealous of whomever got that little treasure! 

[MissRose]

I was working with a customer on an issue that required he do a few tweaks on his account to fix the issue and keep an eye out to see if happens again.  After explaining why, and how to fix, the customer then said "I would like a supervisor", I then asked when I ask for one, they need to know why, and then he said "because you were rude".    Perhaps, I was rude for asking him for the reason why and following departmental protocol.  I then was able to locate one, and when I was ready to send the customer to him per his request, the customer already disconnected the line.  Makes me wonder why he wanted one and wasn't willing to wait perhaps, I will never know.  I've checked the system, and he has not bothered to contact us back to complain.

[MrTango]

I suppose though, that Karma won in the end.  Not too long after he got around me, the cops had him pulled over.

The fact that someone is driving at the posted speed limit does not relieve them of the requirement to keep right if there is faster traffic, and the mere fact that he was speeding doesn't make him a SS.

On the other hand, the way he expressed his displeasure at having to wait until you could find a safe place to move over plants him quite firmly in the SS category.

Then again, I also love watching karma win.

[mmswm]

I suppose though, that Karma won in the end.  Not too long after he got around me, the cops had him pulled over.

The fact that someone is driving at the posted speed limit does not relieve them of the requirement to keep right if there is faster traffic, and the mere fact that he was speeding doesn't make him a SS.

On the other hand, the way he expressed his displeasure at having to wait until you could find a safe place to move over plants him quite firmly in the SS category.

Then again, I also love watching karma win.

That's why I labeled him SS. It's not like I was going under the speed limit, or intentionally staying in the left lane just to irritate him.  I was actively passing slower traffic. It was like he expected me to cut somebody off and slow down myself, just because he wanted to break the law. Trying to drive a lot faster than the speed limit on a pass that makes most lists of "most dangerous mountain roads in the US" just makes him an idiot.  I have no issues moving over for faster traffic, but I do like to make sure it's safe to do so before I change lanes.  Cutting somebody off would have made me the dangerous driver, and that would not have been cool.