Karen's Yo-Yo Part 2
Here's more! Sorry this post is so long--- the rage is strong!! Hope you enjoy!!
Part 1: http://bsc-snark.livejournal.com/603348.html#comments
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Chapter 6- Recess
Ms. Holland reads aloud to the class from the newspaper. Seriously, why would a group of second graders want to listen to that? Most of it probably isn’t even understandable. At least have them do a current events assignment instead.
At recess, Karen shows the Musketeers the Genius. Nancy indulges Karen by complimenting her on how good she already is. Don’t do it, Nancy!!! You’re usually awesome!!!! As long as Karen is being bowed down to, she is nice, so she offers to teach Hannie and Nancy everything she knows.
Bobby has a yo-yo too, and Karen is sure to tell us that his is “not nearly as fancy as the Genius.” Okay. Refrain. From. Throwing. Her. Across. The Playground. Seriously, I fucking hate Karen in this book. Why does Ann want to make her protagonist such a nasty little show-off? I seriously don’t fucking get it. Shut up, Karen. And then Karen continues getting exactly what she wants and being rewarded and indulged and encouraged to act like a fucking snot all the time when Bobby says he wishes he has a cool yo-yo like hers. Please don’t, Bobby. Your yo-yo is fine and you should ditch Karen and leave her to play all by her damn self if she’s going to act like such a little asshole. How many fucking times has she made comments about how great her yo-yo is and how it’s better than everyone else’s and how she’s so great and better than everyone else? Like this whole book.
It gets worse. IT JUST KEEPS GETTING WORSE, GUYS. Karen responds to Bobby’s compliment by saying that having a yo-yo like hers helps with tricks (a simple “thank you” would do, Karen), and then rubs in how there are no more left at the toy store. This is when I would grab the yo-yo and whack her in the fucking head with it. She thinks she’s such a saint for suggesting that Bobby find one somewhere else. She claims that she says this so that he doesn’t feel bad. Sorry Karen, you probably already made him feel bad when you relentlessly bragged about the greatness of your yo-yo. Then she of course has to add that she didn’t want him to feel bad because his yo-yo wasn’t as great as her, “even though it was true.” Someone make darth_firefly’s scenario come true. WE GET IT. THE YO-YO IS GREAT. NOW DO US ALL A FAVOR AND STOP TALKING.
Pamela comes out and she has a cool yo-yo too (“almost as cool as the Genius”--- I’m numb now. I can’t even express my rage about Karen’s attitude any further.)
Karen is shocked that Pamela is modest about all the tricks she can perform, saying this is “new and surprising.” This coming from the least modest person anyone has ever seen, who keeps going on and on about how great her yo-yo is? All Pamela did was show everyone her tricks, then encouraged everyone by saying all it takes to learn the tricks is some practice. Karen, on the other hand, kept talking about how her yo-yo can do the best tricks, and her yo-yo is so great and blah blah blah. Pot calls the kettle black, huh?
Chapter 7- The Pendulum
Okay, guys. I know Karen’s been horrible and rage-inducing but I’m on her side at this part. Briefly.
While reading a chapter about pendulums, she and her group have trouble understanding one part, so she takes the Genius out to exemplify the concept. Ms. Holland catches her with the Genius and takes the yo-yo away because she was playing in class. I’m on Karen’s side for two reasons:
1) She really was doing her work.
2) Ms. Holland would know this if she had given Karen a chance to speak instead of cutting her off. Karen starts to say that she was trying to show how a pendulum works, but Ms. Holland interrupts her and draws the conclusion that she was just playing. I work in a school. I, as well, would take a toy away if a student was playing during class because it’s disrespectful. However, I would also allow the student to provide an explanation to me and give them the benefit of the doubt. Once s/he explained to me what was actually happening, I might be impressed that they used a tool to teach themselves about the concept.
So Ms. Holland was kind of a bitch here, in my opinion. But it doesn’t excuse Karen’s later behavior, so don’t be mad at me yet.
At the end of the day, Karen just flounces over to Ms. Holland and flat out asks for the yo-yo back. That’s where there’s a problem. Karen could have used this opportunity to explain about the pendulum, but she does not. She just “figures” Ms. Holland should give it back now (as opposed to the next day, as per the class rule which states that toys taken are given back the following day) because it was taken unfairly. Problem here Karen is that Ms. H doesn’t realize it was taken unfairly. Also, her class, her rules, as I said before. In the schools I went to, generally you either got your toy back at the end of that day, or your parent had to come in and get it. I wouldn’t hold my students’ toys for longer than that, but I’m a softie. And I wouldn’t mind punishing Karen for being such a show-off about her yo-yo.
Anyway, Ms. Holland tells Karen she will let Ms. Colman, who will be back the following week from a conference, decide when the yo-yo will be returned. Karen actually thinks Ms. Holland will call Ms. Colman at her conference to find out the class rule. Oh, Karen. You aren’t that important.
Chapter 8- Counting to Four Hundred
Karen vows to become the perfect student so that Ms. Holland will like her. She decides to refrain from asking Mrs. H for the yo-yo first thing in the morning. Gee thanks, Karen. You’re a saint. Besides, I think she already destroyed all chances of Ms. Holland liking her, being that she’s been acting like a little shit to her since she came.
She raises her hand for every geography question because she is “a quick map reader.” Yeah, just keep bragging about how perfect you are, Karen.
After lunch, which is when Ms. Colman usually returns toys that have been taken away (but Ms. Holland has different rules ahhhhh), Karen can’t take it anymore because she has gone all this time without the yo-yo. I’ll give her the benefit of the doubt, my hobby is reading and I would hate if my current book was taken away and I couldn’t access it and missed out on valuable reading time. But Karen, as usual, fails to act like a civilized human being, so I don’t feel too bad.
Karen asks Ms. Holland for the yo-yo back. She doesn’t try to explain about the pendulum, doesn’t perhaps go to her parents with the issue, she just asks for the damn thing back. Ms. Holland reminds Karen that she’s going to let Ms. Colman decide when to get the yo-yo back. Then Karen fucking asks her if Ms. Colman was out when she called, tells her what Ms. Colman would have said, which is that toys are returned the next day, then holds out her fucking hand and bluntly says: “I would like my yo-yo back please.”
I would have wanted to throw the child across the room for being such a disrespectful little shit, and Ms. Holland probably feels the same way (she looks at Karen’s hand “as if it were a disgusting slug.” Hah! Not too far from the truth.) She becomes rightfully angry and explains to Karen that she is not just going to call Ms. Colman at the damn conference and bother her, and again, that when Ms. Colman returns, she’ll decide what to do about the yo-yo. She starts to say she doesn’t want to hear about the fucking yo-yo anymore, but Karen interrupts her, of course, to whine that it’s the class rule. Ms. Holland reminds her that when it is her class, she makes the rules. Go Ms. Holland!
Karen internally rants that Ms. Holland is “breaking” the class rule. I understand that it is difficult to adjust to new rules in a class. Karen counts past four hundred to try to calm herself down. Then she decides she still has a chance to get on Ms. Holland’s good side and show her how great a kid she really is. Pssh. Great kid my ass. More like demon child from Hell. She thinks if she behaves, she’ll get the yo-yo back early. GIVE IT UP KAREN! I UNDERSTAND YOU’RE UPSET BUT MS. HOLLAND HAS MADE IT CLEAR SHE’S NOT GIVING IT BACK TO YOU AND SHE’S LETTING MS. COLMAN DECIDE. GIVE IT THE FUCK UP. MS. HOLLAND DOES NOT BEND TO YOUR EVERY WILL THE WAY MS. COLMAN DOES. SHE WILL NOT CHANGE HER MIND.
Karen goes into the desk drawer to get colored chalk for Ms. H and… dum-dum-dum… sees the yo-yo!
Karen “somehow”, almost unconsciously, steals the yo-yo from the desk and puts it in her pocket. Somehow, no one sees, which I find hard to believe. She puts it in her pocket and is happy that she has it back.
Mixed feelings on this. I want to say Karen is a little brat that always has to have what she wants, but I do sense her frustration, and sometimes when you really want something you lose control of what’s right and what’s wrong.
Will Karen be smart and refrain from bringing the yo-yo back to school?
The answer when we return.
Part 1: http://bsc-snark.livejournal.com/603348.html#comments
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Chapter 6- Recess
Ms. Holland reads aloud to the class from the newspaper. Seriously, why would a group of second graders want to listen to that? Most of it probably isn’t even understandable. At least have them do a current events assignment instead.
At recess, Karen shows the Musketeers the Genius. Nancy indulges Karen by complimenting her on how good she already is. Don’t do it, Nancy!!! You’re usually awesome!!!! As long as Karen is being bowed down to, she is nice, so she offers to teach Hannie and Nancy everything she knows.
Bobby has a yo-yo too, and Karen is sure to tell us that his is “not nearly as fancy as the Genius.” Okay. Refrain. From. Throwing. Her. Across. The Playground. Seriously, I fucking hate Karen in this book. Why does Ann want to make her protagonist such a nasty little show-off? I seriously don’t fucking get it. Shut up, Karen. And then Karen continues getting exactly what she wants and being rewarded and indulged and encouraged to act like a fucking snot all the time when Bobby says he wishes he has a cool yo-yo like hers. Please don’t, Bobby. Your yo-yo is fine and you should ditch Karen and leave her to play all by her damn self if she’s going to act like such a little asshole. How many fucking times has she made comments about how great her yo-yo is and how it’s better than everyone else’s and how she’s so great and better than everyone else? Like this whole book.
It gets worse. IT JUST KEEPS GETTING WORSE, GUYS. Karen responds to Bobby’s compliment by saying that having a yo-yo like hers helps with tricks (a simple “thank you” would do, Karen), and then rubs in how there are no more left at the toy store. This is when I would grab the yo-yo and whack her in the fucking head with it. She thinks she’s such a saint for suggesting that Bobby find one somewhere else. She claims that she says this so that he doesn’t feel bad. Sorry Karen, you probably already made him feel bad when you relentlessly bragged about the greatness of your yo-yo. Then she of course has to add that she didn’t want him to feel bad because his yo-yo wasn’t as great as her, “even though it was true.” Someone make darth_firefly’s scenario come true. WE GET IT. THE YO-YO IS GREAT. NOW DO US ALL A FAVOR AND STOP TALKING.
Pamela comes out and she has a cool yo-yo too (“almost as cool as the Genius”--- I’m numb now. I can’t even express my rage about Karen’s attitude any further.)
Karen is shocked that Pamela is modest about all the tricks she can perform, saying this is “new and surprising.” This coming from the least modest person anyone has ever seen, who keeps going on and on about how great her yo-yo is? All Pamela did was show everyone her tricks, then encouraged everyone by saying all it takes to learn the tricks is some practice. Karen, on the other hand, kept talking about how her yo-yo can do the best tricks, and her yo-yo is so great and blah blah blah. Pot calls the kettle black, huh?
Chapter 7- The Pendulum
Okay, guys. I know Karen’s been horrible and rage-inducing but I’m on her side at this part. Briefly.
While reading a chapter about pendulums, she and her group have trouble understanding one part, so she takes the Genius out to exemplify the concept. Ms. Holland catches her with the Genius and takes the yo-yo away because she was playing in class. I’m on Karen’s side for two reasons:
1) She really was doing her work.
2) Ms. Holland would know this if she had given Karen a chance to speak instead of cutting her off. Karen starts to say that she was trying to show how a pendulum works, but Ms. Holland interrupts her and draws the conclusion that she was just playing. I work in a school. I, as well, would take a toy away if a student was playing during class because it’s disrespectful. However, I would also allow the student to provide an explanation to me and give them the benefit of the doubt. Once s/he explained to me what was actually happening, I might be impressed that they used a tool to teach themselves about the concept.
So Ms. Holland was kind of a bitch here, in my opinion. But it doesn’t excuse Karen’s later behavior, so don’t be mad at me yet.
At the end of the day, Karen just flounces over to Ms. Holland and flat out asks for the yo-yo back. That’s where there’s a problem. Karen could have used this opportunity to explain about the pendulum, but she does not. She just “figures” Ms. Holland should give it back now (as opposed to the next day, as per the class rule which states that toys taken are given back the following day) because it was taken unfairly. Problem here Karen is that Ms. H doesn’t realize it was taken unfairly. Also, her class, her rules, as I said before. In the schools I went to, generally you either got your toy back at the end of that day, or your parent had to come in and get it. I wouldn’t hold my students’ toys for longer than that, but I’m a softie. And I wouldn’t mind punishing Karen for being such a show-off about her yo-yo.
Anyway, Ms. Holland tells Karen she will let Ms. Colman, who will be back the following week from a conference, decide when the yo-yo will be returned. Karen actually thinks Ms. Holland will call Ms. Colman at her conference to find out the class rule. Oh, Karen. You aren’t that important.
Chapter 8- Counting to Four Hundred
Karen vows to become the perfect student so that Ms. Holland will like her. She decides to refrain from asking Mrs. H for the yo-yo first thing in the morning. Gee thanks, Karen. You’re a saint. Besides, I think she already destroyed all chances of Ms. Holland liking her, being that she’s been acting like a little shit to her since she came.
She raises her hand for every geography question because she is “a quick map reader.” Yeah, just keep bragging about how perfect you are, Karen.
After lunch, which is when Ms. Colman usually returns toys that have been taken away (but Ms. Holland has different rules ahhhhh), Karen can’t take it anymore because she has gone all this time without the yo-yo. I’ll give her the benefit of the doubt, my hobby is reading and I would hate if my current book was taken away and I couldn’t access it and missed out on valuable reading time. But Karen, as usual, fails to act like a civilized human being, so I don’t feel too bad.
Karen asks Ms. Holland for the yo-yo back. She doesn’t try to explain about the pendulum, doesn’t perhaps go to her parents with the issue, she just asks for the damn thing back. Ms. Holland reminds Karen that she’s going to let Ms. Colman decide when to get the yo-yo back. Then Karen fucking asks her if Ms. Colman was out when she called, tells her what Ms. Colman would have said, which is that toys are returned the next day, then holds out her fucking hand and bluntly says: “I would like my yo-yo back please.”
I would have wanted to throw the child across the room for being such a disrespectful little shit, and Ms. Holland probably feels the same way (she looks at Karen’s hand “as if it were a disgusting slug.” Hah! Not too far from the truth.) She becomes rightfully angry and explains to Karen that she is not just going to call Ms. Colman at the damn conference and bother her, and again, that when Ms. Colman returns, she’ll decide what to do about the yo-yo. She starts to say she doesn’t want to hear about the fucking yo-yo anymore, but Karen interrupts her, of course, to whine that it’s the class rule. Ms. Holland reminds her that when it is her class, she makes the rules. Go Ms. Holland!
Karen internally rants that Ms. Holland is “breaking” the class rule. I understand that it is difficult to adjust to new rules in a class. Karen counts past four hundred to try to calm herself down. Then she decides she still has a chance to get on Ms. Holland’s good side and show her how great a kid she really is. Pssh. Great kid my ass. More like demon child from Hell. She thinks if she behaves, she’ll get the yo-yo back early. GIVE IT UP KAREN! I UNDERSTAND YOU’RE UPSET BUT MS. HOLLAND HAS MADE IT CLEAR SHE’S NOT GIVING IT BACK TO YOU AND SHE’S LETTING MS. COLMAN DECIDE. GIVE IT THE FUCK UP. MS. HOLLAND DOES NOT BEND TO YOUR EVERY WILL THE WAY MS. COLMAN DOES. SHE WILL NOT CHANGE HER MIND.
Karen goes into the desk drawer to get colored chalk for Ms. H and… dum-dum-dum… sees the yo-yo!
Karen “somehow”, almost unconsciously, steals the yo-yo from the desk and puts it in her pocket. Somehow, no one sees, which I find hard to believe. She puts it in her pocket and is happy that she has it back.
Mixed feelings on this. I want to say Karen is a little brat that always has to have what she wants, but I do sense her frustration, and sometimes when you really want something you lose control of what’s right and what’s wrong.
Will Karen be smart and refrain from bringing the yo-yo back to school?
The answer when we return.