This is the suck that doesn't end...

[Blade_Raver]

Halfway into that exchange I would have grown a bit more assertive..

"Ma'am, are you going to keep yelling at me or do you want me to help you?"

(If she has a shred of common sense, she'll choose the latter.)

"OK. Let's look at the official document from the school that shows the class info. If you don't have this, there's no way I can accurately help you."

Between the kid's incompetence and the parents arrogance and stupidity... That was definitely a pressure cooker of a situation.

My kudos to you for dealing with that so well!

[eltf177]

So in her world MATH = STATS? Sounds like sonny needs a refresher course in basic english?

Kudos to you for not giving that 'lady' a four-letter lecture!

And forty wacks on the head to your wimp of a supervisor!

[Polenicus]

W-o-o-o-w...

I just can't grasp that... when I was going to college, if my Mom had offered to come with me to buy my books, I would have said 'Hell no!' I was past the stage of wanting or needing my mother holding my hand for stuff in elementary school.

And... this seems to be the grand lesson parents are teaching their kids, as it was taught to them "If you're upset, no matter for what reason, you are entitled to compensation."

[Buglady]

This is why the administration at my college has published FOUR articles on "helicopter parents" in its various newsletters and information for new students. They don't want to deal with them, period. If you're old enough to be here, you're freaking well old enough to do your own work, in so many words! But one of the articles even talked about parents going along to their children's job interviews ><

I have to ask at the bookstore if they have had problems this year. Suddenly there are BIG signs everywhere that they cannot take debit cards, cheques, or Visa/MC that do not bear the student's name.

I'm actually old enough to BE a parent of a first-year student (assuming a slight degree of precocity on someone's part - I'm 35 though) and if I saw something like that I'd probably lose it and give both Mommy and child a free psychoanalysis on the spot (my temper is somewhat legendary. I have the unfortunate ability to spot someone's very worst, deepest shame and when I'm mad enough I go straight for it - somethign I am workign on because that's not fair to anyone and it's worse than if I physically slapped someone).

[blas]

I'd hate to be the poor girl who tries to date that guy 15 years down the road while he still lives with his mummy and she barges in on the two of them to yell "Mufffffiinnn it's time for your bubble bath! Mummy needs to get that icky green stuff between your testicles and your ears! Come on muffffiiiin!"

[Mike Taylor]

A solution?

[lupo pazzesco]

You know I was just thinking the other day "I haven't seen many threads from Lupo on here" because I am always entertained by your stories.

I aim to please!

It's just been hella busy and crazy around here. I've got more stories from the last couple of weeks, I just need to find time to sit down and type them up!!

She sure as HELL would not have gone off on the bookstore employees because I TOLD THEM the wrong course I needed books for.

See, that's the thing. Junior screwed up, and I'M at fault. On what planet does that logic compute?! Ugh...

Between the kid's incompetence and the parents arrogance and stupidity... That was definitely a pressure cooker of a situation.

My kudos to you for dealing with that so well!

I would've LOVED to get more assertive throughout the exchange, but she never let me get a word in edgewise. It's hard to put across in written word her tone and nuances, but essentially, I wasn't supposed to speak. Just nod, apologize, bow down and kiss her ass... >.>

So in her world MATH = STATS? Sounds like sonny needs a refresher course in basic english?

Kudos to you for not giving that 'lady' a four-letter lecture!

Sounds like to me she wants sonny to still be homeschooled, or something, because the big bad evil real world of college is just too much for him. Hey, it rendered him speechless in my presence? Either that, or he's learned to just not say anything to mommy dearest when she's on a tear.

And... this seems to be the grand lesson parents are teaching their kids, as it was taught to them "If you're upset, no matter for what reason, you are entitled to compensation."

Quoted for truth!!!

What a delightful future that entails for anyone working retail, or any type of CSR related industry. >.<

This is why the administration at my college has published FOUR articles on "helicopter parents" in its various newsletters and information for new students. They don't want to deal with them, period. If you're old enough to be here, you're freaking well old enough to do your own work, in so many words! But one of the articles even talked about parents going along to their children's job interviews ><

I find myself wanting to read these articles. Anyway they're online or something, and you can PM me the link? I'd LOVE to accidentally leave them scattered around or hand them out to customers. I know I can't, but it's a nice dream.

I'd hate to be the poor girl who tries to date that guy 15 years down the road while he still lives with his mummy and she barges in on the two of them to yell "Mufffffiinnn it's time for your bubble bath! Mummy needs to get that icky green stuff between your testicles and your ears! Come on muffffiiiin!"

Thank you, Blas. I damn near cackled in the computer lab at school, and have the other two people in here looking at me strangely. But I don't care!! What an image!!

And of course seeing Ville Vallo always makes me smile!!

[blas]

Glad I could brighten your day.......ahhh my 10:30 am ramblings on week days...

[Jester]

Thank you for reminding me of why I think my Mom is so damned awesome!

Seriously, I am not sure if my mother EVER has been in the bookstore at ASU. Certainly she never was for the purchasing of any books I had. Maybe to buy gifts, but that would be it.

My parents raised us to be self-sufficient. We wanted a car? We had to buy it. We wanted laundry done? Do it. I swear, the number of guys who showed up at the dorms without a fucking clue how to operate the laundry machines was staggering to me, as I had been doing laundry since I was at least twelve. And Mom had one rule for all three of us when we went off to college: first year at college is spent in the dorms. Period. Damn good lesson, if you ask me.

I am trying to think of the conversation that would have happened with Mom if, A. I bought the wrong book (never happened), and B. I complained to her about it (never would happen). It might go something like this:

JESTER: "Mom, this sucks! They sold me the wrong book!
MOM: "Who did?"
JESTER: "Those idiots at the bookstore!"
MOM: "Are you sure they sold you the wrong book? Or did you buy the wrong book?"
JESTER: "Huh? What do you mean?"
MOM: "It seems to me that your had the information for what books you needed, probably provided by your professors. Either you wrote it down wrong, you read it wrong, or you got the wrong book. And if for some reason the bookstore people gave you the wrong book, don't you think it's your responsibility to check that against the information you were provided?"
JESTER: "But...."
MOM: "If you have the wrong book, the only thing to do is to go back to the bookstore and correct it. I hope for your sake they'll exchange it and not make you pay for both books."

Yeah, my Mom is full of all kinds of win!

[draftermatt]

You know, neither of my parents have even set foot in either of the colleges I went to other than my wife's graduation (I didn't attend my graduation).

It amazes me that people above the age of 16 still want their parents to handle things for them.

[Jester]

I think the longest my mom was ever on the ASU campus was when I was teaching her how to use computers for her job.

But in the same way my parents taught us how to be self-sufficient, I taught her just enough so that she could teach herself how to do anything else she might need (ang gave her a book on the programs she would need for her job).

My mother, at the time, was completely computer illiterate, but really needed to be able to use computers for any jobs she might get.

Well, she took the little I taught her and within a very short time knew more about the programs she needed than I did, because, of course, she knew how to use the programs to find out more about the programs.

It was nice being the "parent" in that one, I have to say!

[Imogene]

And they'll continue working here just because...

That doesn't scan correctly... It should be:
And they'll continue working here forever just because...

[smileyeagle1021]

You know... with me and college, my mother was on campus a total of 3 times. The first was when I moved into the dorms, because not all my stuff would fit in my car and she offered to drive it over in her truck (and FTR, yes she did help me move in, then again, she helped about half the people on my floor move in, for some reason she enjoys helping people move ), the second time she was on campus was when I was baptized into the LDS Church (yeah, not that smartest thing I did, but that is a topic for another thread, most likely in fratching), she stayed in a hotel on campus and we went to the food court a few times. The third time was when I moved out of USU and down to Salt Lake, once again because I didn't have enough space in my car and she offered to drive the truck over.
As far as taking care of things for me... she has made a deal, I must pay for every penny of schooling I can afford and she'll make up the difference... and if I give her a number and how much that needs to be made up, she'll demand all my bank and credit card statements for the past 6 months to make sure it's not because I'm squandering money (and yes, every time I have asked her for money it has been relatively small, this semester it was $200, and that was only because I had to spend $225 to get my furnace repaired, otherwise I would have covered it all). The idea of having her go to the book store with me... no way in hell.
Since moving out I have let her be a helicopter parent only once, and that was dealing with kicking out a deadbeat roommate, and that's more because she's been a landlord for longer than I've been alive and she knows how to do it without putting me into legal hot water (and also the fact that it's her condo that I'm renting from her did have something to do with it , did I mention she's been a landlord for a while).

[MTNLaurelPoacher]

Steal from you... What a capital idea. ^.^ That's exactly what I was thinking when I sold these books to your kid.
Seriously lady, the only thing being stolen here is my time.


Evil Thought of the Day-

What does this mother do when "Lill Mr. Precious" gets dumped?

Mother: "Why did you dump Mr Precious? You evil #*&%. You made him cry! You stole his heart you evil succubus! He loves you! Take him back now!!!!

[MannersMakethMan]

See, that's the thing. Junior screwed up, and I'M at fault. On what planet does that logic compute?!

On the planet SC, where no matter how ridiculous it sounds, it must be true because you said it.

I have no idea how you managed to get through that without hurting someone, but I'm glad you did. Have some cider and cookies *throws*