And, is everyone taking the exam early, or do you have to create two exams?

The sharing the office thing sucks out loud, though.

Yeah. I'm just glad I'm not sharing the office with New Boss, which apparently was one of the ideas floated--that I'd move to the small desk in this office and she'd get the big desk where I currently am. Instead she's getting this whole office, and Engineering is setting up a desk for me in the big shared room where our interns and residents hang out. And I'm pretty much OK with that, because for the most part they're quiet and they're often out on the floors visiting patients anyway. I like almost all of them, and AFAICT the feeling is mutual.

I'm just afraid my past history WRT work and bad bosses is going to rear up and spoil this one. I can just feel all the negativity, against myself and the workplace, coiling up within me, ready to strike.

then hating myself for having so fucked up my adult life that I'm not in a job that demands respect

I don't think there is a job that demands respect. You'd think the presidency would demand respect, but not so much these days. The person demands respect. Right now she just knows your job title, not you.

Susan, I recommend not letting the way your boss treats you make you crazy until you've worked with her a little while. Maybe she will see how valuable you are and treat you with the respect you deserve. Maybe not, but it's still all hypothetical now.

Just pick a spot and start packing. In a few hours you'll be all moved.

then hating myself for having so fucked up my adult life that I'm not in a job that demands respect

I know this demon. I spend a lot of time squashing its head.

because one of my students is going on a safari to Africa.

sputter. Kristen - that's not fair to you - or to the student. I know some schools do some schedule shifting in cases of illness or family events (not the 'hey! honey, we're going on safari!' kind, though). What this is going to teach about the importance of keeping deadlines and working within schedules is what keeps VW waiting for her tutoring students when she's really hungry, I think. Not to meld the thread, but - well -?

Cashmere, twolumps agrees with juliana: [link]

I don't understand why Safari!Student can't take a makeup exam when she gets back.

I don't think there is a job that demands respect. You'd think the presidency would demand respect, but not so much these days. The person demands respect. Right now she just knows your job title, not you.

Yes. This.

What Ginger said.

Well. I guess it's more about my own self-respect than anything else. I mean, you look at everything I did before I was 22, and you'd see a kid who could've been just about anything with the possible exception of an engineer or a mathematician. And what am I now? Operations Manager for a small department at a hospital. My collegiate peers are doctors and lawyers and professors and successful entrepreneurs and the like. Sure, I'm writing, but until I actually sell a book, what does that prove? For all anyone, myself included, knows, I'm a terrible writer. Of all the things I thought I would accomplish when I was 18 and leaving my hometown, the only one I've succeeded at is leaving my hometown for good.

And yes, I know this isn't the way I should be thinking, but it's really hard to unwrite this particular mental script.