The Weekend
Ah...the weekend fun, fun, fun...and then Monday comes and I'm deflated. This past weekend was our Fall Festival that I coordinated. Been working my tail off making sure things were just right. A friend at work called me an "overachiever" ...I took it as a compliment. Seriously. If something has my name on it, and I care about it, I want it to be as good as I can make it. And to me, it was something to be proud of. Teachers seemed happy, students and parents seemed happy----I heard no complaints. On Saturday. Today rolls around and I'm still on a euphoric trip of "WOO HOO THE FALL FESTIVAL WENT WELL AND HELLS YEAH, IT'S OVVVVVEEEERRRRR" and the first thing I get slapped in the face with is some complaints from one of the top ranking complainers in the building about how her station was being run.
Celebs without makeup! ha!
Ahem...you are complaining to me about the way your station went---when you were THE ONE RUNNING IT?! ok...so no biggie there, moving on...still feeling GOOD IN DA HOOD.
Here comes the head honcho...I'm thinking she will at least say thank you and give me a teeny, tiny, mini pat on the back. No. She excitedly tells me that "next year with BETTER PLANNING it will be even better and we'll make even more money."
Excuse me? **&*&*&*&*^*^&*&*&*^&^%&^%^%%$$#$#$E%$%$%^%^&^*&* Sorry. Can you translate that? Because I think you just said B.E.T.T.E.R. P.L.A.N.N.I.N.G. Am I correct? If so, please go stand in front of a moving train. Because if that did not look like good planning to you and if you didn't think that went well, then a train upside the face is what I feel you need at this point. Well of course I say none of that, because I have a few mouths to feed around here and need a haircut before I'm on the 6:00 news. I said, "I think it was well planned." She said, "Oh it was, I just mean, well some parents complained that some things were crowded." Oh...were they talking about how you guys bought a popcorn machine and sold popcorn, drinks and pizza all in the same place where I had intended for a few games to be? Or are you just completely making that up because it did indeed go so well that it would kill you to tell me that?
What always shocks me about these moments...other than they shouldn't shock me is how much I desperately NEED for her to tell me something good---I want so badly for her to not slam me and to tell me it's GREAT without any ifs, ands, and buts...and that is when I had the biggest epiphany of my lifetime.
She is shockingly my Dad, cloned into a black woman's body. It is physically impossible for her to tell me something is great and let me feel good about it. She will always find something wrong with anything...even if I talked Jesus into visiting the school with a million dollars in his back pocket...she'd say, "What, he didn't bring burgers and fries?...how about chicken wings?...we can do better next time." And what probably really infuriates me and hurts is that I NEED that from her---so it isn't really her fault that she's incapable of giving me what I need---it's more my fault for letting myself get that way over it and expecting orange juice from a prune.
And that is when I started feeling a LITTLE bit better about the situation. I also felt better when I sent out an email thanking everyone and reminding how cool it was that some people did it for the kids and not for the money. :)
4 comments:
You did a great job and your talent shines through! I know we ALL want to hear from her good job, especially after we work hours and hours of extra time! I guess these days our satisfaction has to come from within and from our friends.
PS. I didn't mind the feely booth, but my "talents" were needed with Mr. H.
You, one day, will get to tell her what you think. Until then, remember that it WAS awesome, the kids had FUN (which is the point), and that any such event will have cranky people because they are j-e-a-l-o-u-s. :) :) :)
I am going to have to go with SBB on this one...I think sometimes it hurts people to see someone else do a good job so they nit pick & try to make an awesome event seem crappy. I know you put a lot of hard work into that event and you should be proud of yourself!
isn't it interesting that you feel the need to get validation from her, all the while realizing she's incapable/unwilling of giving it?
maybe translate (in your head) everything she says into the positive and react according to that.
so when she says "next year, with better planning, blah blah blah"
you say (with total sincerity) "thank you...i worked really hard"
as though she's paying you a compliment.
because, maybe, that's the only way she knows how.
or just kick her in the shins like a four year old.
sometimes toddlers express themselves the best.
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