lundi, novembre 29, 2004
travisty
Okay, so you're probably wondering what all the fuss about Travis is (those of you who don't know him). It's sort of a funny story, really. Basically, this boy is well-known to the guys I've gotten to know over the past couple months, and when they found out that I would be working with him on my Testing project, there was quite the onslaught of warnings and pity for me. It was surprisingly harsh, but since I'm a girl who likes to form her own opinions about people and things, I opted not to rush to judgement on the matter. Could this supposedly tremendously annoying and stupid person really be that bad...?
So I withheld judgement. I arranged to meet Travis to coordinate our project work. By this time, another young lady named Maggie had asked to work with us, since she is like me - new - and didn't have a lot of options for partners in our class.
I thought I was being open-minded and reasonable to give Travis the opportunity to make his own impression on me. He sure made an impression...
Hello professor McKelvie,
I am writing on behalf of Stacey and myself just to let you know that we have decided it is impossible to continue working with Travis on the project. She has already informed him and I am supporting her decision, we agree it is for the best.
We understand that it may seem rash to make this kind of decision on the day the project is due, but all attempts to work and progress during the weekend failed. I feel that both Stacey and I were in a disadvantage not knowing the people in the group and there was no way we could have predicted this problem, such consequences are often found in team projects.
Slainte,
Maggie and Stacey
Despite the outward appearance of normality, Travis, quite simply, is one of the most persistently annoying, unproductive and irresponsible creatures I have had the misfortune to spend time with. I don't think he's been held to account for very much in his short life, 'cause he sure acted like he expected to be let off the hook for many of his shortcomings.
In our few unpleasant hours together, Travis was completely unable to focus, to stay on point, or to complete any task without somebody basically playing a babysitting role for him. Every time I would ask him how much progress he had made on our work, he was ready with excuses like, "I cut my thumb, so not too much." "My work might not be great, but I have GOOD ideas..." (are we in the idea business...?). "I have other projects that I need to do" (don't we all...?).
This was not a personality issue - even if someone was very irritating, if the quality of their work made up for it, they would be tolerated. We just didn't see any evidence that Travis had it in him to buckle down and get anything done. I haven't been 22 for a long time, so maybe I forget if it's harder to concentrate at that age or something. What I know at this point in my life is that you just can't let your own inability to produce affect the lives of other people who depend on you. Why do you deserve a free ride? This project is worth THIRTY PERCENT of our final grade in this class, and it is important to Maggie and I that we do well. It was a very long and difficult report to complete (over 30 pages), and we didn't have the luxury of wasting time.
Thank goodness for miss Maggie. We just spent SIX HOURS working together to complete the project, we actually had fun working together, and even managed to produce a solid report. That girl can write..! We were lamenting our misfortune at having not met sooner and maybe avoiding all the nonsense with this other guy. Ah well. I'm pleased with how things turned out, even if I do feel a bit bad for poor Travis. | ¶ 11:40 p.m.
So I withheld judgement. I arranged to meet Travis to coordinate our project work. By this time, another young lady named Maggie had asked to work with us, since she is like me - new - and didn't have a lot of options for partners in our class.
I thought I was being open-minded and reasonable to give Travis the opportunity to make his own impression on me. He sure made an impression...
Hello professor McKelvie,
I am writing on behalf of Stacey and myself just to let you know that we have decided it is impossible to continue working with Travis on the project. She has already informed him and I am supporting her decision, we agree it is for the best.
We understand that it may seem rash to make this kind of decision on the day the project is due, but all attempts to work and progress during the weekend failed. I feel that both Stacey and I were in a disadvantage not knowing the people in the group and there was no way we could have predicted this problem, such consequences are often found in team projects.
Slainte,
Maggie and Stacey
Despite the outward appearance of normality, Travis, quite simply, is one of the most persistently annoying, unproductive and irresponsible creatures I have had the misfortune to spend time with. I don't think he's been held to account for very much in his short life, 'cause he sure acted like he expected to be let off the hook for many of his shortcomings.
In our few unpleasant hours together, Travis was completely unable to focus, to stay on point, or to complete any task without somebody basically playing a babysitting role for him. Every time I would ask him how much progress he had made on our work, he was ready with excuses like, "I cut my thumb, so not too much." "My work might not be great, but I have GOOD ideas..." (are we in the idea business...?). "I have other projects that I need to do" (don't we all...?).
This was not a personality issue - even if someone was very irritating, if the quality of their work made up for it, they would be tolerated. We just didn't see any evidence that Travis had it in him to buckle down and get anything done. I haven't been 22 for a long time, so maybe I forget if it's harder to concentrate at that age or something. What I know at this point in my life is that you just can't let your own inability to produce affect the lives of other people who depend on you. Why do you deserve a free ride? This project is worth THIRTY PERCENT of our final grade in this class, and it is important to Maggie and I that we do well. It was a very long and difficult report to complete (over 30 pages), and we didn't have the luxury of wasting time.
Thank goodness for miss Maggie. We just spent SIX HOURS working together to complete the project, we actually had fun working together, and even managed to produce a solid report. That girl can write..! We were lamenting our misfortune at having not met sooner and maybe avoiding all the nonsense with this other guy. Ah well. I'm pleased with how things turned out, even if I do feel a bit bad for poor Travis. | ¶ 11:40 p.m.
