the sc's keep getting younger

[pssorens]

while I was working the hell of back-to-school today, a girl of about 9 or 10 came

up and asked for the school supply list for a local grade school. now of the large

number of local schools that we contacted at the end of school and again at the

start of Back to school season, about half sent us lists and sure enough the little

girls school hadn't sent us a list. I tell her I'm sorry that i don't have her list.

Then, in a whine worthy of the worst EW's i have ever meet asked me. " But what

are the people who go to XXXXXXXXX grade school supposed to

[powerboy]

You could have grabbed another schools list and have her grab things off of it.

[pssorens]

unfortunatly, teachers arround here have lists that are very specific. thats why the seasonal team lead and I spent so much time begging schools to send us their lists. I'm going to recommend that next year we don't do school supply lists as it's nothing but a headache when the schools don't follow through.

[kibbles]

I don't think the girl was sucky. I think the school was definitely sucky because what are they supposed to do if the school doesn't send the list?

[clod75]

here school supplies can be provincial tax exempt.... but they gotta tell us and also there is only a short list of items that we can exempt it. We can't do computer copy paper, correction fluid, tape, construction paper backpacks locker shelves, highlighters, fancy pens and pencils(only basic) I mean, wtf?

That kind of stuff people want the exemption, becuase of their stupid lists. It's hard to listen to them freak out because we have to tell them "Look. The province will only allow us to deduct the tax for BASIC school supplies"

More rules, more headache for us at the tills.

[blas]

Have you seen some of the school supply lists for elementary school kids these days? Some teachers are neurotic enough to demand certain colors and ONLY certain colors or certain brands....it's insane.

[IT Grunt]

I've heard stories about teachers writing up kids for not having the correct supplies, so I can see why the girl would be upset. The school's the sucky party because they didn't follow through and provide the list. Still, no reason for the girl to get upset with the OP. Nothing they can do; she needs to be giving the school a piece of her mind.

[MoonChild2007]

I don't think the girl was sucky. I think the school was definitely sucky because what are they supposed to do if the school doesn't send the list?

It depends on how the girl said it. if she was being a brat then yes, she was sucky. But if she was saying it in a calm tone of voice and not blaming the clerk, then of course she isn't sucky.

[smileyeagle1021]

oh, I'll definitely say sucky school, not sucky girl (even if she was a brat, some of the crap my elementary school pulled makes me side with anyone over elementary schools... for example in first grade on the list provided was colored markers... I actually got high quality markers... my teacher decided it wasn't fair for any student to have signifigantly higher quality supplies than any other so he bought a bunch of cheap stuff and "traded" students with high quality stuff for his cheap stuff... and the principal backed him up )

[kibbles]

ITA smileyeagle, even if the girl was a bit of a brat or whiny I still wouldn't count her as sucky especially given how some schools do write students up for not having the exact right thing.

And smileyeagle...how in the world did they get away with basically stealing your stuff? That's unreal what some schools do.

[evilhomer]

It depends on how the girl said it. if she was being a brat then yes, she was sucky. But if she was saying it in a calm tone of voice and not blaming the clerk, then of course she isn't sucky.

Exactly, I'll do something with a smile on my face when I'm asked to do it, whereas I'll be fuming about the exact same task if someone told me to do it. It's not necessarily what is said, it's how it was said.

[smileyeagle1021]

And smileyeagle...how in the world did they get away with basically stealing your stuff? That's unreal what some schools do.

they justified it by saying that everyone was "pooling supplies" and the teacher was just assigning out supplies from the pool... yeah, complete and utter bullshit but they got away with it.

[rerant]

I remember when I would buy school supplies it would be a generic binder, some 3hole lined paper, notebooks of my choosing, pencils, pens and pencil crayons.
Nothing was ever specific.
Teachers are getting way too nit-picky these days forcing kids to have specific items and giving them heck for not having those things.

[IT Grunt]

Teachers are getting way too nit-picky these days forcing kids to have specific items and giving them heck for not having those things.

I'll heartily agree with that. All you need is something to write with and something to write on at the very least. That was actually one of the fun parts of back to school shopping, picking out the notebooks, folders and other items we'd use that year. I fail to see the reason why everything has to be a specific type, or a specific brand to satisfy a specific teacher's whims. I suspect stuff like this has created quite a few other SC confrontations like the one mentioned in the OP, when schools have either a) not provided lists or b) provided lists, but it's stuff that's hard to find.

[Irving Patrick Freleigh]

IMO, as I've stated several times, requiring students to color-code their folders and notebooks and use specific colors for certain subjects is a solution in search of a problem. If a student needs to do this to stay organized, that's fine, but I don't think it should be mandated for all. Not all students need to coordinate colors like that to keep their schoolwork organized.

Plus it makes headaches for the store employees when notebooks and/or folders don't come in certain required colors, and what's a parent supposed to do? Junior will flunk if his math notebook isn't red! O noez!

As for the school supply lists, my store has a big rolling cart thingy that holds the supply lists from all the local schools I can think of. Except for the high schools, which just require the basics like notebooks, looseleaf paper, and writing utensils, and on the first day of class the teachers for the various subjects tell their students what other supplies will be needed.

If the school hasn't sent the list, then it's on them when the parents try to guess and the students don't show up with exactly the right supplies.