Special Snowflake Stories

[wheeitsme]

Special Snowflakus Iwillnotpaymyfinesus:

At my library, some books are on 48-hour loan, because they're textbooks for classes. There are usually only a few copies of these books, and they're in high demand, as courses often have several hundred students in them. In order to induce students to return them on time (to allow as many students access to these books as possible), late fees are high, 5 cents per minute. Now, if you're only a few minutes late, you won't get a fine, there's a 15-minute grace period. However, if you're a couple of hours late, you will  have a fine of a few dollars. This policy is on the website, and when students check the books out, circulation staff tells them the exact hour and day when the book is due. Of course, students often do not listen and are shocked to find, upon returning the book a day late, that they now have a rather large fine. Most of them aren't happy, but accept it. Our Special Snowflake was not such a student.

He'd returned a 48-hour loan book a few hours late, and so had a fine of about $5. Not a very big fine, but he had an absolute fit at the circ desk. He kept ranting in a very loud voice, just short of shouting, about how stupid this policy was, and nobody had told him about the fines, and how could they attach per minute fines to the book? The library clerk tried to calm him down and explain the policy, and offered to get the circulation supervisor, but SS was having none of that. After several minutes of ranting, he informed the clerk that absolutely would not pay the fine. Clerk told him that in that case, he would not get his diploma when he graduated. Student told him that he was going to complain to the Dean, and WOULD NOT PAY THE FINE. He then stormed off. Charming fellow.

LOL!
"Dean, I broke the rules, and the library is expecting me to live up to my responsibilities as an adult!"

(And the fact that it's such a small fine that he is making such a fuss over is going to further endear him to the dean  )

[BabylonSister]

Foodie SS Version 3.0:

In my pre-library days, I worked in an office with Betsy.  Betsy was originally from another country and justified everything she did or said with "Well, that's how it IS in my country.  Americans are just so uptight."  This applied to everything from her suddenly throwing her arms about you and resting her head on your shoulder while you took a walk to grabbing hold of a buxom coworker's bllouse, pulling the top open and announcing "I am curious about what you HAVE down there."

Our office ate out quite often as a group and it got to where no matter what Betsy ordered, we ordered the same thing whether we liked it or not.  It was the only way to assure ourselves of getting most of our meal. 

Betsy would usually wait until everyone else ordered, order something she liked and no one else could stand and then gobble up her meal and spend the rest of the dinner wandering about the table trying to pick food off of others' plates.  We got to the point we were all hunched over our plates trying to protect our pathetic little spaghetti dinners or burgers because Betsy had absolutely no compunction about picking up your burger and taking a bite. 

We were all thrilled when she got a job across the country.  I wonder how they feel about her wherever she's eating/walking/feeling people up these days.

"Betsy, you are in America now and here we do it otherwise. whether or no they do it differently where you're from means nothing - you need to follow the rules here. If you can not - we will take stronger steps to make sure you do. "  And follow through - everything from refusing to go to lunch with her, to going to HR and up and including, charges for ripping open a blouse.  The Betsy's of this world get away with things because people are too polite to fight back - they don't want be called "racist" or whatever the current label is that bullies use.

  If she grabbed my food, she'd be paying for and that would be the last time I went anywhere with Betsy.  Job or not - they can not force you to allow someone to steal from you.

I very much doubt her actions were acceptable in any culture.  I think the country where her behavior is normal was entirely contained in her head,

[snowdragon]

Foodie SS Version 3.0:

In my pre-library days, I worked in an office with Betsy.  Betsy was originally from another country and justified everything she did or said with "Well, that's how it IS in my country.  Americans are just so uptight."  This applied to everything from her suddenly throwing her arms about you and resting her head on your shoulder while you took a walk to grabbing hold of a buxom coworker's bllouse, pulling the top open and announcing "I am curious about what you HAVE down there."

Our office ate out quite often as a group and it got to where no matter what Betsy ordered, we ordered the same thing whether we liked it or not.  It was the only way to assure ourselves of getting most of our meal. 

Betsy would usually wait until everyone else ordered, order something she liked and no one else could stand and then gobble up her meal and spend the rest of the dinner wandering about the table trying to pick food off of others' plates.  We got to the point we were all hunched over our plates trying to protect our pathetic little spaghetti dinners or burgers because Betsy had absolutely no compunction about picking up your burger and taking a bite. 

We were all thrilled when she got a job across the country.  I wonder how they feel about her wherever she's eating/walking/feeling people up these days.

"Betsy, you are in America now and here we do it otherwise. whether or no they do it differently where you're from means nothing - you need to follow the rules here. If you can not - we will take stronger steps to make sure you do. "  And follow through - everything from refusing to go to lunch with her, to going to HR and up and including, charges for ripping open a blouse.  The Betsy's of this world get away with things because people are too polite to fight back - they don't want be called "racist" or whatever the current label is that bullies use.

  If she grabbed my food, she'd be paying for and that would be the last time I went anywhere with Betsy.  Job or not - they can not force you to allow someone to steal from you.

I very much doubt her actions were acceptable in any culture.  I think the country where her behavior is normal was entirely contained in her head,

Yes, but we'll never convince Betsy of that. Telling her that no matter how they do it in her country ( or in her head) we do things other wise and following through is the only way to get the powers that be to pay attention.  Telling her won't stop her but then you can say "HR person I tried and she persisted - now it's your turn."

[gramma dishes]

I very much doubt her actions were acceptable in any culture.  I think the country where her behavior is normal was entirely contained in her head.

Complete and succinct!!   

[Jocelyn]

re: the surgical procedure  for the young sister  - how old is this kid?  A friend's daughter, who's barely 3, was able to have surgery for sleep apnea.  Mom was not allowed in the actual room, but was with her in the "pre op" room.  When I had my surgeries, (over the age of 18) my mother was allowed into the pre-op room (although I wonder if that was because I'm deaf and they wanted to be sure they had a translator until the 'real' one arrived) 

It's not just true for small children and persons needing translators. I had cataract surgery a couple of years ago, which is done one eye at a time. Both times, the pre-op staff asked me if I wanted them to get my driver from the waiting room, to keep me company in pre-op. I told them I'd rather just lie there and enjoy the pre-op meds.  I've waited in pre-op with family members, so I think it's a general anti-anxiety practice. The nurses also don't have to keep checking on a patient if there's someone there with them.
Which brings me to another point- why didn't they just give the pre-op sedative, and  let the child go off to GABA-Land? 

[Yarnspinner]

To clarify a little about Betsy and our HR policies:


I should have explained the blouse thing better.  I made it sound like she ripped a blouse open--what she did was to hook her finger over the V in our coworker's top and pulled it out so she could peer in.  My coworker (who is also a long time friend) was so shocked that the first thing out of her mouth was "Are you looking for something specific?"  We were both very young at the time (I don't think I had seen 23 yet) and so didn't think of it as harrassment.  Coworker said later "You know, I have this ceramic frog.  If I had known Betsy was going to go cave diving in my bra, I think I would have stuck the frog in there.  But who knew THAT was going to happen?"

Betsy was very European...and I agree, she was like the stereotype over bearing European from movies. 

The thing is...sometimes (I suspect on the days when she was taking her meds and NOT overdosing on wine the night before) she could be lots of fun and the lot of us in that office would hang out together quite often. 

She kind of stopped the eating thing after the same coworker "almost" stabbed her hand with a fork.  "Oh, I didn't SEE you there!"  It wasn't a complete stoppage...someone would have to say "Betsy, remember what happened with Clara's fork the LAST time you tried that...."

As for HR, what can I say?  It was (at the time) a small micropublishing operation.  Even in 1980, consciences hadn't been raised as high as they could have been...and the closest we had to HR was the administrative assistant to the vice president in charge of operations.  The only time someone got fired for harassment charges was when an ethnic male worker distributed to all the women of his ethnicity a diatribe on how women of X ethnicity should not wear tight blue jeans because it was all a ploy by Y ethnicity to give X women various sorts of infections.  The thing was so graphic that all the X women went right to their supervisor and complained. We weren't really surprised when he was packed up and sent home the next day. 

Some days I wonder which gave me the bigger crazies--working with the public at the library or working with folks who often seemed like inbred mutants from The Hills Have Eyes.  Should have followed my instincts at age 12 and become a nun.....

[Rohanna]

I must say, SS or not I don't think much of any major children's hospital that doesn't have a better procedure in place to deal with anxiety- whether it be from the children or the parents. It would have taken far less time to have offered the option of a pre-procedure sedative or mild-anti anxiety medication, either on site that day or with a rescheduled appointment- than to have simply stonewalled the patient and parent. I have taken my child right into the operating room of two hospitals and assisted with gassing him down (I was gowned up by the staff), so again- the fact that it's a sterile room shouldn't be the issue. Children's hospitals should be specialists in making children at ease, dealing with anxiety, and handling anxious, irate or upset parents. While I don't dispute that it wasn't the time or place for your mother to hold up the line, it should never have been allowed to get to that point by the staff, and I believe her concern to be legitimate and that from what has been posted, their policies aren't very child-friendly. This is of course, moot, if she was offered this as an option and refused it.

[greencat]

I have continuously witnessed a subspecies of special snowflake at my work I like to call:  SS. whatsafetysigns?

I have developed the habit of verbally warning people that they are about to walk on a wet floor, because to date, not a single one has reacted with anything less than surprise when I say "The floor is wet, please watch your step," despite the presence of a mop in my hand, the shininess of the wet floor, the "Wet Floor" labeled yellow mop bucket, and the three bright yellow bilingual "Wet Floor" signs I put out around the area I'm mopping. 

[Amava]

I have continuously witnessed a subspecies of special snowflake at my work I like to call:  SS. whatsafetysigns?

I have developed the habit of verbally warning people that they are about to walk on a wet floor, because to date, not a single one has reacted with anything less than surprise when I say "The floor is wet, please watch your step," despite the presence of a mop in my hand, the shininess of the wet floor, the "Wet Floor" labeled yellow mop bucket, and the three bright yellow bilingual "Wet Floor" signs I put out around the area I'm mopping.

They're SSSS. Safety Sign Special Snowflakes.

[ica171]

Saw two yesterday. On the way to pick up my son for a doctor's appointment, I have to drive on two highways. Both have paved shoulders specifically meant to be used as bike paths. Apparently that wasn't good enough for SS Bike Rider, who decided that instead of using the path he would weave all over the highway at 10 mph, endangering the lives of himself and everyone around him. Eventually he moved far enough over into the next lane that I felt safe passing him.

Then, when we got to the doctor's office, another patient came in while we were in the waiting room. The woman working the desk tried to check her in, but she didn't have an appointment that day. Another coworker came out, saw that the woman was getting agitated, and tried to help. They asked if she had gotten a reminder call yesterday, she said she didn't know in a tone that implied that she was too busy to remember such a thing and thought it was stupid of them to even ask. They apologized for the misunderstanding and found that her appointment was actually next Wednesday. They apologized again and told her that normally they would try to fit her in, but they were triple booked and it just couldn't be done today. She got all huffy and told them fine, just cancel her appointment next week and NO, she didn't want to reschedule. The woman at the front desk was confused but canceled it. The woman then stomped off with her kids.

This is the only doctor of this type in the town I live in; to get to another one you have to drive over to Omaha. I hope she does; I feel sorry for a child that has to go without medical care (non-urgent, but still) because his mother can't admit she's made a mistake.

[elephantschild]

To clarify a little about Betsy and our HR policies:
Coworker said later "You know, I have this ceramic frog.  If I had known Betsy was going to go cave diving in my bra, I think I would have stuck the frog in there.  But who knew THAT was going to happen?"

Coffee, meet keyboard. I like that woman.

[VorFemme]

To clarify a little about Betsy and our HR policies:
Coworker said later "You know, I have this ceramic frog.  If I had known Betsy was going to go cave diving in my bra, I think I would have stuck the frog in there.  But who knew THAT was going to happen?"

Coffee, meet keyboard. I like that woman.

Who was the Hellion who mentioned have a bra pig (guinea pig)?  Someone needs to sew up a tiny stuffed animal to be kept in the bra of people who want to shock anyone who pulls out their shirt to peek into the bra...or in the event of a Renn Faire, their corset!

A thumb sized hamster or guinea pig might be fun - or a dragon for the Renn Faire!

[KenveeB]

To clarify a little about Betsy and our HR policies:
Coworker said later "You know, I have this ceramic frog.  If I had known Betsy was going to go cave diving in my bra, I think I would have stuck the frog in there.  But who knew THAT was going to happen?"

Coffee, meet keyboard. I like that woman.

Who was the Hellion who mentioned have a bra pig (guinea pig)?  Someone needs to sew up a tiny stuffed animal to be kept in the bra of people who want to shock anyone who pulls out their shirt to peek into the bra...or in the event of a Renn Faire, their corset!

A thumb sized hamster or guinea pig might be fun - or a dragon for the Renn Faire!

I used to keep a rubber chicken poking out of my bodice at Faire. Nowadays he travels in his own custom carrier on my belt.

[buvezdevin]

To clarify a little about Betsy and our HR policies:
Coworker said later "You know, I have this ceramic frog.  If I had known Betsy was going to go cave diving in my bra, I think I would have stuck the frog in there.  But who knew THAT was going to happen?"

Coffee, meet keyboard. I like that woman.

Who was the Hellion who mentioned have a bra pig (guinea pig)?  Someone needs to sew up a tiny stuffed animal to be kept in the bra of people who want to shock anyone who pulls out their shirt to peek into the bra...or in the event of a Renn Faire, their corset!

A thumb sized hamster or guinea pig might be fun - or a dragon for the Renn Faire!

I used to keep a rubber chicken poking out of my bodice at Faire. Nowadays he travels in his own custom carrier on my belt.

And now I need to see a picture of that to know if my mental image matches.  I'm thinking something like a water bottle holder, but hoping for a "Batman" belt.  Picture, pretty please (puss'n'boot eyes)?

[Giggity]

Yes, I agree about the sterile room.  I wouldn't expect to be allowed into an operating room, but if the procedure only took 10 minutes, I doubt there was anesthesia and a sterile room involved.  It seems to me that the hospital could have solved this problem by allowing the child's mother to accompany her.  Sometimes exceptions just have to be made.  I'd like to know exactly why the hospital wouldn't allow the mom to go with her daughter.

Because it's the rule, and probably the rule exists for a reason.

Why should exceptions be made to a perfectly good rule just because someone doesn't like it? Isn't the purpose of having a rule so you don't have to judge each case?