Cavalier
(Pre note: If you were expecting to read material about the professional Cleveland basketball team, The Cavaliers, or also known as "The Cavs", this is not a blog related to that. It is also not for horseback riding enthusiasts either.)
In recent years, the word "cavalier" has had particular significance to me. When I got the last insult from the last job in health care, they told me that it was such a hard decision for them to let me go because I seemed like such a nice girl. But, I was so cavalier, they said. When someone called me to go upstairs to learn another procedure in the system, I kept them waiting a whole twenty minutes. That was really the only thing they were able to provide in terms of a true violation. The letter they gave me to accompany indicated a few bullet points, one of which was lack of initiative. Odd as it may sound, this was one of the comments that people have made towards me that really cut me to the bone. Not just the fact that it was an insult, but the fact that it was simply not true. Then again, my previous professional life has done almost nothing but disappoint in just about every which way, which is why I left it.
Having launched myself into the education world, I am now in a bit of a situation as I think about what the significance of the expression "cavalier" is. Everyday I encounter people (students of all ages) who can barely read, not because they themselves were cavalier, but because the adults around them didn't care enough to show them. Accuse someone of being cavalier, you are accused of being racist and class oriented. Is that true? To a degree, admittedly, but those are not the only factors. Being around 17 year olds with full gangsta tattoos, bullet holes in their chests and ankle bracelets on makes you think other thoughts on the matter, especially when they are in the 7th grade. And don't get me started on that "I'm entitled" attitude, the ones where people may or may not accuse you of being a have in a world of have nots. Never mind the fact that you bothered to not graduate at the top of your class but at all from high school, didn't screw up your life so bad, and didn't do this or that.
Who is to blame for this? Certainly parents and the home lives of kids, but in the adult world there is also a degree of disorganization. I am back to the CSU grind this semester (and it's going to be a grind, no question). For my last class today, I shuffled into a literature class. First days of classes consist of going over the syllabus, answering questions, and making sure we have the correct textbooks. My buddy Shawn and I were having a chat since we we in another class together last semester, when we suddenly looked at the clock and realized that nearly a half hour had passed and no teacher had showed up. People were starting to leave, so we decided to be a little more aggressive about it. He called the English department on his cell saying that all were here but we were without leadership, only to be told by the receptionist that maybe they were tardy due to lack of parking. After rolling our eyes at that excuse, we decided the best thing to do was to pass out a blank piece of paper, sign all our names to it, then drop it off at the English department to let the powers at be know that we were there. We went online to find that there was no professor name listed for this class. And that there were no textbooks listed as to what was required. And there was no copy of the syllabus on the CSU online page. Let's hear it for having a cavalier attitude.
In recent years, the word "cavalier" has had particular significance to me. When I got the last insult from the last job in health care, they told me that it was such a hard decision for them to let me go because I seemed like such a nice girl. But, I was so cavalier, they said. When someone called me to go upstairs to learn another procedure in the system, I kept them waiting a whole twenty minutes. That was really the only thing they were able to provide in terms of a true violation. The letter they gave me to accompany indicated a few bullet points, one of which was lack of initiative. Odd as it may sound, this was one of the comments that people have made towards me that really cut me to the bone. Not just the fact that it was an insult, but the fact that it was simply not true. Then again, my previous professional life has done almost nothing but disappoint in just about every which way, which is why I left it.
Having launched myself into the education world, I am now in a bit of a situation as I think about what the significance of the expression "cavalier" is. Everyday I encounter people (students of all ages) who can barely read, not because they themselves were cavalier, but because the adults around them didn't care enough to show them. Accuse someone of being cavalier, you are accused of being racist and class oriented. Is that true? To a degree, admittedly, but those are not the only factors. Being around 17 year olds with full gangsta tattoos, bullet holes in their chests and ankle bracelets on makes you think other thoughts on the matter, especially when they are in the 7th grade. And don't get me started on that "I'm entitled" attitude, the ones where people may or may not accuse you of being a have in a world of have nots. Never mind the fact that you bothered to not graduate at the top of your class but at all from high school, didn't screw up your life so bad, and didn't do this or that.
Who is to blame for this? Certainly parents and the home lives of kids, but in the adult world there is also a degree of disorganization. I am back to the CSU grind this semester (and it's going to be a grind, no question). For my last class today, I shuffled into a literature class. First days of classes consist of going over the syllabus, answering questions, and making sure we have the correct textbooks. My buddy Shawn and I were having a chat since we we in another class together last semester, when we suddenly looked at the clock and realized that nearly a half hour had passed and no teacher had showed up. People were starting to leave, so we decided to be a little more aggressive about it. He called the English department on his cell saying that all were here but we were without leadership, only to be told by the receptionist that maybe they were tardy due to lack of parking. After rolling our eyes at that excuse, we decided the best thing to do was to pass out a blank piece of paper, sign all our names to it, then drop it off at the English department to let the powers at be know that we were there. We went online to find that there was no professor name listed for this class. And that there were no textbooks listed as to what was required. And there was no copy of the syllabus on the CSU online page. Let's hear it for having a cavalier attitude.
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