Final Team Challenge - Day the First
The day wasn't horrible, but, let's face it, it wasn't fantastic either. And now, due to certain rantage, this post is both f'locked and under a cut for those of you who don't want to read my drivel.
First off, it was up to me, Will, Katie and Jame to sort out lunches for people. Anna, Jane and I had done the shopping yesterday.
Well, Anna did the shopping. Jane and I just tagged along while she basically decided what we didn't need and bought the cheapest, poorest quality ingredients. Okay, I understand that we're strapped for cash right now, but the objective is to treat these people. Not give them naff quality sandwiches without any butter because butter isn't essential!
Anna is a good budget shopper, I won't deny it. But the thing is, she's used to living off 10p packets of noodles and value brand stuff because she can never afford anything else. So her idea of a 'shop' is exactly that. As a result, we got a rubbish shop in.
The group also 'decided' that we'd only be making lunches for the residents and worker, in order to save money. I say 'the group' - we were basically told by Anna. Well, a few of us were told, and the rest who weren't spent the day starving, wondering where the hell their food was. You can't walk around, entertaining guests all day on an empty stomach. I ended up nearly passing out, with a throbbing migraine.
One of the residents we took out, a lady called Teresa, didn't like the whole excursion. I don't think this is our fault, however; word has it that she was never really keen on going; she'd have much preferred to stay with her husband, who suffers from MS. Plus, museums weren't really her kind of thing. What I'm thinking is, if she never wanted to come in the first place, why did the care home send her with us? Seems a little unfair...
Laura was given the task of escorting Teresa around before dinner and the kid didn't say a word. This infuriated me as you'd get Margaret and Bob chatting away with whoever escorted them and poor Teresa was stuck with someone who may well have been mute.
Before I move on to happier details (I'd like to leave the best stuff until last), I have yet more tales from the land of Miss Pregnant-with-Twins. Long-time readers have already heard about her upcoming fantasy epic and pregnancy.
Well, it transpired ten weeks ago that Anna actually knows this person. They were good friends, in fact, and she informed me that Miss Pregnant-with-Twins had, in fact, been pregnant with twins. And she'd subsequently lost them both.
Now, you all know how skeptical I was regarding this person. In the eleven years I've known her she's revealed herself to me as a compulsive liar with a superiority complex. Because this pregnancy had been the latest in a long line of false pregnancies dreamed up by this girl to give herself some self-importance, I thought it was another lie. When Anna talked about it as if it had actually happened, I felt like the most awful person in the world.
Except... she's pregnant again. With twins, again. Supposedly 25 weeks gone when she conceived early last September. With Anna's ex-boyfriend; the only guy who Anna felt she could trust. And this isn't the first time she's done this with Anna's other exes.
So again my alarm bells are ringing. Firstly, twins again? What are the chances? Methinks her obsession with having kids (twins in particular) is coming into play again - I've long suspected that she has bouts of pseudocyesis, where the main goal of the 'pregnancy' is to garner attention. Secondly, a kid conceived early last September would be 28 weeks gone, not 25.
Whatever. This is silly drama between Anna, her ex boyfriend and Miss Pregnant-with-Twins. I've always hated people dumping this kind of thing on me so this is the point where I back away and scurry off to some place where I can't get involved.
Okay, rant over. What went well, and what can be improved?
The museum was alright, I suppose. A lot of it was just looking at things, which I can't imagine was very stimulating for our three residents. Bob and Margaret seemed to enjoy themselves, though, which was good.
Tomorrow, it's imperative that we stick to the plan that was written. This means nobody argues with it (especially the people who weren't in during the planning phase last week) and everyone gets on with whatever needs doing.
Communication is also vital. I for one will be talking much more, both to other team members (so we're all clear on the plan) and to the residents.
The only thing I'm worried about is challenging people. We have to confront people who aren't pulling their weight, but, historically, the ones who don't pull their weight are also the ones who all have explosive tempers or kick off at the mildest, most benevolent of criticisms. I'll try tomorrow if people aren't following the plan, but the last thing I want is for people to kick off in front of the guests.
I can't believe I'm saying this, but thank god it's only this week and the next, and then it's done. I can have a week off before my Job Centre appointment on April 8, then go back to the St. Helens Star if all goes well. It's not the course itself that I'm being frustrated by, mind; it's the people who still explode at the tiniest thing, bring their personal problems to college and bicker all the time. We're probably the most volatile mix of students the programme has seen for a while. It's getting to the point where I'm considering just finishing the course and being shut of everybody on there. People are harassing me to get Facebook - uh, heck no!
So much for ending on a happier note. I guess there's no pretending - I came out of today feeling pretty awful. Thankfully, though, I managed to stay professional throughout the day, even when it was getting horrible.
Tomorrow, I'm hoping for a better day. How is it that this course has suddenly become so dreadful?
First off, it was up to me, Will, Katie and Jame to sort out lunches for people. Anna, Jane and I had done the shopping yesterday.
Well, Anna did the shopping. Jane and I just tagged along while she basically decided what we didn't need and bought the cheapest, poorest quality ingredients. Okay, I understand that we're strapped for cash right now, but the objective is to treat these people. Not give them naff quality sandwiches without any butter because butter isn't essential!
Anna is a good budget shopper, I won't deny it. But the thing is, she's used to living off 10p packets of noodles and value brand stuff because she can never afford anything else. So her idea of a 'shop' is exactly that. As a result, we got a rubbish shop in.
The group also 'decided' that we'd only be making lunches for the residents and worker, in order to save money. I say 'the group' - we were basically told by Anna. Well, a few of us were told, and the rest who weren't spent the day starving, wondering where the hell their food was. You can't walk around, entertaining guests all day on an empty stomach. I ended up nearly passing out, with a throbbing migraine.
One of the residents we took out, a lady called Teresa, didn't like the whole excursion. I don't think this is our fault, however; word has it that she was never really keen on going; she'd have much preferred to stay with her husband, who suffers from MS. Plus, museums weren't really her kind of thing. What I'm thinking is, if she never wanted to come in the first place, why did the care home send her with us? Seems a little unfair...
Laura was given the task of escorting Teresa around before dinner and the kid didn't say a word. This infuriated me as you'd get Margaret and Bob chatting away with whoever escorted them and poor Teresa was stuck with someone who may well have been mute.
Before I move on to happier details (I'd like to leave the best stuff until last), I have yet more tales from the land of Miss Pregnant-with-Twins. Long-time readers have already heard about her upcoming fantasy epic and pregnancy.
Well, it transpired ten weeks ago that Anna actually knows this person. They were good friends, in fact, and she informed me that Miss Pregnant-with-Twins had, in fact, been pregnant with twins. And she'd subsequently lost them both.
Now, you all know how skeptical I was regarding this person. In the eleven years I've known her she's revealed herself to me as a compulsive liar with a superiority complex. Because this pregnancy had been the latest in a long line of false pregnancies dreamed up by this girl to give herself some self-importance, I thought it was another lie. When Anna talked about it as if it had actually happened, I felt like the most awful person in the world.
Except... she's pregnant again. With twins, again. Supposedly 25 weeks gone when she conceived early last September. With Anna's ex-boyfriend; the only guy who Anna felt she could trust. And this isn't the first time she's done this with Anna's other exes.
So again my alarm bells are ringing. Firstly, twins again? What are the chances? Methinks her obsession with having kids (twins in particular) is coming into play again - I've long suspected that she has bouts of pseudocyesis, where the main goal of the 'pregnancy' is to garner attention. Secondly, a kid conceived early last September would be 28 weeks gone, not 25.
Whatever. This is silly drama between Anna, her ex boyfriend and Miss Pregnant-with-Twins. I've always hated people dumping this kind of thing on me so this is the point where I back away and scurry off to some place where I can't get involved.
Okay, rant over. What went well, and what can be improved?
The museum was alright, I suppose. A lot of it was just looking at things, which I can't imagine was very stimulating for our three residents. Bob and Margaret seemed to enjoy themselves, though, which was good.
Tomorrow, it's imperative that we stick to the plan that was written. This means nobody argues with it (especially the people who weren't in during the planning phase last week) and everyone gets on with whatever needs doing.
Communication is also vital. I for one will be talking much more, both to other team members (so we're all clear on the plan) and to the residents.
The only thing I'm worried about is challenging people. We have to confront people who aren't pulling their weight, but, historically, the ones who don't pull their weight are also the ones who all have explosive tempers or kick off at the mildest, most benevolent of criticisms. I'll try tomorrow if people aren't following the plan, but the last thing I want is for people to kick off in front of the guests.
I can't believe I'm saying this, but thank god it's only this week and the next, and then it's done. I can have a week off before my Job Centre appointment on April 8, then go back to the St. Helens Star if all goes well. It's not the course itself that I'm being frustrated by, mind; it's the people who still explode at the tiniest thing, bring their personal problems to college and bicker all the time. We're probably the most volatile mix of students the programme has seen for a while. It's getting to the point where I'm considering just finishing the course and being shut of everybody on there. People are harassing me to get Facebook - uh, heck no!
So much for ending on a happier note. I guess there's no pretending - I came out of today feeling pretty awful. Thankfully, though, I managed to stay professional throughout the day, even when it was getting horrible.
Tomorrow, I'm hoping for a better day. How is it that this course has suddenly become so dreadful?