A couple years back there was that idiot Mensa member who killed someone and bragged about it....

Of course, this means I will have to find a new source that much sooner.

I think I need a pimp toaster.

I don't think I was a bright kid, per se. I was just really good at a subset of subjects. I wonder if that kid was just good at everything? I think that's why I stopped skipping grades -- my math might have been ready for it, but my history never was going to be. Of course, the idea of having the subjects you like bore you because you're ahead and the subjects you hate bore you because -- well, you hate them, don't you? Still not fun. But I was well within tolerance for good teachers to compensate, and the bad teachers -- well, who hasn't had one? Or three? You don't have to be bright to suffer. It's probably worse if you're not.

I think I had a point, but mostly I'm tired.

Right! I have had a co-worker (or two, now that I think about it) who's all "Yes. Yes. Okay. Okay." and don't ever write anything down. They don't ever fucking get it. It's like a nervous tick, and they'll be back at your desk asking for the same info over again, or worse yet, plowing ahead with their half-assed understanding.

Much like school, I get the tech stuff and the abstract concepts at work pretty quickly. It's the actual line-of-business stuff that makes me feel like a moron, because I need to either take notes or hear it more than once. So I do take notes. Copious notes. And now, when it's tech stuff, I try and take notes too, simply because it keeps me awake during the boring bits. Which, when repetition is involved is ... all the repetition. At least that way I catch when the topic shifts to something new -- when I draw, not only does it attract attention, but I can drift away.

I have had a co-worker (or two, now that I think about it) who's all "Yes. Yes. Okay. Okay." and don't ever write anything down. They don't ever fucking get it. It's like a nervous tick, and they'll be back at your desk asking for the same info over again, or worse yet, plowing ahead with their half-assed understanding.

Damn them! They're the reason potential employers don't trust me! Damn them!

t drops to knees

KHAAAAAAAAAAANNNNNN!!!!

KLINGON BASTARDS! KILLED MY SON!

They're the reason potential employers don't trust me!

Sad to say, I'd rather risk losing a you, than hiring one of them. When you have to look an adult in the face and ask "Do you really get that, or are you just saying it?" more than once a day, it's insane making.

I worked with someone who did that. Said "okay, okay" and then screwed up instructions. So annoying. Of course, I never write anything down myself, so I am doing my part to annoy others.

I'm a list maker.

The trick I've used with students who nod and say, "Okay okay okay" is to ask them to repeat back what I just said. If they can, then I let it go because I assume if they repeated it correctly, they will remember. If they can't, then I tell them to write it down as I tell them a second time. It takes a couple of times before they stop doing it and getting it wrong.

Though, in fairness, I'm also overkill on explanation (mainly because I have to repeat myself so often that it's mindnumbing). Now I say things once and write out the steps on the board, even down to page numbers etc. When someone asks me again, I just point at the board.

I admit I'm a bit stunned when I tell people to do things, and they don't.

I say "Pivot your foot." They don't. I pivot my foot and make them look. I say "Pivot your foot." They don't. I pivot their foot and make them look. I say "Pivot your foot." They don't.

Sure, there's not enough money in the world to get me to hit middle C, but it's a foot! Can't you at least tell it's not pivoting? It's right there -- if your kinaesthetics are off, how about your vision?

It's not that I don't get not being able to pivot -- it's the tone deafness about not knowing you're not doing it that makes me confused.

And when I can tell someone's just saying "Yes. Yes." I wonder -- how can you not have realised that you have no idea what I just said, but you're going to walk off and fuck up?

I'm intimately acquainted with the fog in my brain where facts should go when I've skipped the putting-them-in-there part. I do try and fill it before going on, though. It's less embarassing to ask (or take notes) than it is to fuck up.

I wish I could make visible lists at work, or ask people to repeat what I've just said. And I resent being part of a group where that has to happen.

Kat! I used to do that when I taught! Jason laughed at me when I was trying to train Layla, I said "Sit" and when she didn't, said "What did I just say?" out of reflex.