Sunday, October 07, 2007

Lecture Rant

First of all thank you to all who commented on my last post for your support. I'm feeling better, I'm just missing all that relationship stuff but I'll live. And now on to the real purpose of this post.

Since finishing my last degree I had forgotten how much this particular thing bothered me, but now I'm back it's rearing it's ugly head once more and causing my blood pressure to creep up. Anyone who has ever done a degree should be able to relate to this one.

How rude is it when the lecture is nearing it's end, the lecturer is still talking and people start to pack their things away? Would it seriously cripple them to hang on for all 30 seconds of the summary of the lecture and then pack away and go? For me it is the height of rudeness, if you were in a job interview would you start putting things away while the interviewer was still talking to you? I highly doubt it, and yet these students think it is ok to pretty much ignore the lecturer at the end of the lecture.

On a related topic there are an awful lot of people who think it's ok to talk in lectures as well, and I don't mean the brief "Oh, what did Dr. Whatdyacallhim say just then?" kind of whispered exchange that I can forgive. I mean full blown what I did last night and what I'm doing tonight kind of conversation that could certainly wait until the lecture is over. It's rude and it's very distracting to those students who are actually trying to listen to the lecturer. I would wonder why they actually came to the lecture in the first place, but our course actually monitors attendance via attendance sheet so they show up to get their mark. I just wish I could forcibly gag them sometimes.

I'd like to wish that this was an unrelated incident but our whole society in general is a selfish and rude one. Yesterday my mum, my sister and I went out and about for a food and drink festival. My sister is currently on crutches having torn the ligaments surrounding one of her toes while dancing (apparently it's more painful than it sounds). On the way back we boarded a very crowded train, with not a single free seat, my sister stood balancing on her crutches and leaning against the edge of a seat. Did the lads standing by us stand up to offer her a seat? Nope. Did the adults sitting by us? Nope. After one stop into the train journey a girl about my age noticed and stood up to let Hop-along have her seat. Am I the only one who finds it disgusting that people are too self-obsessed to think of giving up their seat for someone else? (And before anyone asks, yes I have previously given up my seat for people who are frail/injured/heavily pregnant etc).

On an unrelated note on that same train a girl who had been sitting down chatting on her phone since Oxford Road (I'm assuming she got on at Piccadilly, the stop before) told the conductor that she had got on at Central (several stops later). I was this close to dobbing her in it, and apparently so was my Mum. I sometimes wonder if I'm a bit of a mug for going by the rules?

6 comments:

Mosher said...

I'm as bad as you about the rules, but dobbing the girl in would have been very un-English as it would have involved "making a scene". This is Not Allowed By English People. Unless drunk.

For future reference, crutches can be painful when squished onto a toe. Useful when followed by a "sorry - I lost my balance and there are no seats".

In Europe, I was sat on a train mindlessly reading a book when someone tapped me on the shoulder and asked if they could have my seat. It was a little old lady and there was nowhere else for her to sit. Of course, I stood up straight away. Had I seen her, I would have done so anyway. But the fact is, she had no problem asking - I assume she expected the reaction she got: an apology and a seat. I can' see how she'd have recognised me as a tourist rather than one of her countrymen. She'd have been squinted at and ignored in this country.

Anonymous said...

Around a year ago, I and two friends had our bags stolen from the back seat of a car. It was stupid of us to leave them there, and that lesson has been learned. We were all insured with the same company, and unfortunately the terms of our policies stated quite clearly that theft from a private car was only covered if the items were in a locked boot or in the glove compartment. Not only did my two friends lie about where in the car their bags had been, they exaggerated the lost contents to some degree as well. What made this worse was that they ridiculed me for not doing the same.

Rules are there for a reason, and it is *not* to be broken except in very exceptional circumstances. Mosher is right though, it would have been very un-English to make a scene. You, being an upstanding member of society (literally in this case) would probably have found that she could make a worse scene than you; people often do when confronted with evidence of their own wrongdoing (or at least, they can be very rude when it is politely suggested to them that using a disabled parking space whilst not in possession of a blue badge is somewhat less than ideal behaviour).

Mosher said...

I gave up telling people to shift cars out of disabled spaces when one guy slammed his car door on my head.

Seriously.

Anonymous said...

Haha yeah I can believe it. I've only done it once myself, and all parties involved were relatively small females. And there were two of us against one of her. Still had to watch my Mum's car as she drove away, just in case ...

KindaBlue said...

Apropos of nothing, blagging it from Piccadilly to Warrington is either a major achievement on her part, or a major failing on Transpennine's part...

Tara said...

I know I am commenting on an old post here... but I have to agree with you on the annoying/rude people in lectures thing...

I can't stand it when people start packing up and leaving because they can't sit there for another minute... worst of all if you are sitting on the end and don't pack up when they do (therefore making it impossible for them to pass by you) they give you disgusted looks like you are the one in the wrong...

and the people that talk during lectures... aaargh... we don't even have our attendance recorded so you can't blame it on that excuse for them! Although it seems to be mostly the younger ones who have come straight from high school the year before, so they probably have it in the back of their heads that they HAVE to go to class... either way, very annoying and rude.. especially when you ask them politely to be quiet and all you get in response is a giggle and a muttering behind your back!

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