Joy-ride
Oh man, nasty parents suck. To anyone who reads this: when you return to college, or as you prepare to go to college for the first time, I understand that you may be nervous about many things, but for the love of all that's holy please do everything in your power to keep your parents from being mean to your RAs or whoever it is they want to be mean to, unless those people really deserve it. Mike and I are trying to deal with a woman right now who is upset because her daughter is in Swan, and not in a non-smoking house with set or extended quiet hours. This is understandable on its own, what makes me crazy is that Mike and I have both e-mailed her explaining that neither of us have any part in the selection process, we only found out who our kids were on Wednesday, and we called the new students as a courtesy, since house/roommate mailings had taken so long to get out, and the damned woman still doesn't get that we can't change her housing because every room on campus is full. Also, though I only glanced at the housing forms for the new Swan students, I'm pretty sure this girl had circled quiet hours, non-smoking, but then courtesy house and no preference were also circled, which makes me think that this person filled out the form with her mother standing right over her shoulder, and then went back later and added some different options. And, when Mike and I talked to her, she seemed totally cool with being in the house she was in. Only the mother seems to have the problem here. I sent her an e-mail that went like this:
*****,
I believe Mike has already replied answering some of your questions, but I would like to add my contact information, in case you had any questions for me as well. I would also like to add that Mike and I are very excited to meet your daughter, but, although we would be sad to have somebody leaving our house so soon in the year and would prefer not to have that happen, we also understand that you are concerned with finding the right match with housing situations. You can reach me in my room at suchandsuch a number, I hope you will feel free to call us at any time with questions and concerns, and we will do our best to address them. I hope we can get this settled with as little inconvenience as possible, and we are looking forward to seeing your daughter in a few days.
Sincerely,
Erin Briggeman
I got an e-mail back that was terse to the point of rudeness, saying she would talk to her daughter in the morning, would call me back, and that she is very disappointed with how long this is taking. Stress on the fact that she still thinks this is Mike's and my fault. I don't think I'm going to enjoy meeting this parent very much when her kid arrives on the fourth. Sheesh.
Either way, she'll call me this morning, and I'll explain to her that Swan is not as bad as she seems to think it is, after all, here I am, I don't smoke or drink, I'm an active part in the community, I do more work than can possibly be good for me, I'm working three jobs and may add a fourth, I get all this done with plans for more, and a major part of the reason I'm having as much fun as I am is because of Swan. Hopefully if I speak slowly enough, I'll get my point across.
*****,
I believe Mike has already replied answering some of your questions, but I would like to add my contact information, in case you had any questions for me as well. I would also like to add that Mike and I are very excited to meet your daughter, but, although we would be sad to have somebody leaving our house so soon in the year and would prefer not to have that happen, we also understand that you are concerned with finding the right match with housing situations. You can reach me in my room at suchandsuch a number, I hope you will feel free to call us at any time with questions and concerns, and we will do our best to address them. I hope we can get this settled with as little inconvenience as possible, and we are looking forward to seeing your daughter in a few days.
Sincerely,
Erin Briggeman
I got an e-mail back that was terse to the point of rudeness, saying she would talk to her daughter in the morning, would call me back, and that she is very disappointed with how long this is taking. Stress on the fact that she still thinks this is Mike's and my fault. I don't think I'm going to enjoy meeting this parent very much when her kid arrives on the fourth. Sheesh.
Either way, she'll call me this morning, and I'll explain to her that Swan is not as bad as she seems to think it is, after all, here I am, I don't smoke or drink, I'm an active part in the community, I do more work than can possibly be good for me, I'm working three jobs and may add a fourth, I get all this done with plans for more, and a major part of the reason I'm having as much fun as I am is because of Swan. Hopefully if I speak slowly enough, I'll get my point across.