Magnifying glass
I just had the most horrible day. Well, it's not as horrible as it could have been - but it was bad, nonetheless. My trip to Mexico was fantastic - I've got a good story or two - but this one relates to today's events.
After 5 days of camping/traveling with the same group of people, we stopped at the conservation headquarters in Matamoros. My professor had alot on her mind, with all of us trying to cross the border and all and, forgetting I was still in the vehicle, slammed the door in my face. I thought it was hysterical - and pretended I was trapped by lightly pounding on the windows to "let me out!" She returns to let me out - and I - completely joking - say "Damn, Beeeacch!"
I found out today she wasn't exactly sure I was joking.
She felt like I disrespected her in some way. This is very upsetting to me because she is the last person on earth I would ever really, truly say that to. Since most of my friends now are in their early 20s, it is not entirely uncommon for us to use that term in the lightest sense to greet or jibe each other. I guess I just felt comfortable enough with her to use it.
Needless to say, I apologized profusely, but I am disappointed that I now have this "tarnish" in my stellar record with her. She graciously accepted - but I think she still didn't really understand how I could be joking with her. She just grew up in a time where people didn't say that to each other.
The ironic thing is that I am the first person to get pissed off when someone disrespects another person publicly - like over an email listserve at school - or when they act foolishly in a professional situation. I hope I can learn from this experience, and not be quick to judge so harshly. Fortunately, for me, my professor will not hold it against me for future work, but I'm certain it won't ever happen again - to her or anyone else.
1 Comments:
Sometimes it's so hard to judge how other people will take what we say. We all cross that line sometimes even when we didn't realize the line existed in the first place. I'm sure your professor will respect you even more because you acknowledged the fact that she was bothered by your comment. You are a grown up..of the very best kind. :-)
Post a Comment
<< Home