Follow the Directions

 ♫Happy Birthday♫

to

♥Carrie♥

Last night I was at a class to help me become a better daycare provider. The Instructor began by asking us to tell our names, where we worked, and then provide one word that described our place of employment.

1st woman: My name is Jane (not really, but I’m about to mock her a teensy bit and I don’t actually remember her real name. I’m hoping it’s not ‘Jane’) and I work in Townsville at The Place Where I Work (don’t you love the creative way I’m changing all the details?) I love my work because of the really great staff. The people I work with are amazing.

I think it’s great that she loves her co-workers, but I think she missed the ‘one-word’ directive.

 Next?

2nd Woman: My name is Joan (not really, but…you understand) and I work in Cityton at A Place Where We Watch Children, and I love my work because kids are just so funny and interesting. They really really are!

Now, at this point, I was watching the instructor to see how this interpretation of her suggestion was going over. Judging from the eyebrows and the frown, I was guessing: Not Well.

Instructor: “So, Jane’s word is ‘People’ and Joan’s word is ‘Funny’.”

At this point she gave the next woman a very direct look and said,

“Next?”

 I admit I was extremely interested to hear what was coming next.

3rd Woman: My name is Jean (I figured, what the hey, we should probably just keep going with ‘J’, I am right?) and I work in Snootytown at A Fancy Resort For People Who Can Afford To Live Here and Pay Outrageous Amounts for Childcare. I…

She didn’t actually get to say what she loved about her work, because Instructor interrupted with:

“And what’s your ONE word?” She was smiling on the outside, but staring the 3rd woman down with a very serious stare.

“Parents. We have great parents, they are so fabulous, that’s why I love working there, that and the kids. They are so great.”

Instructor didn’t know what to think here, I could see. There was about a 10 second silence. Instructor gave up and sat down. She picked up a piece of paper, and said, oh so casually,

 “Next?”

I think the remaining women saw the danger and everyone else managed one word with no commentary. By the 7th Woman, Instructor was back on her feet, smiling widely. Success at last!

When you start looking around, you will notice that children aren’t the only ones who don’t follow directions. The question is, ‘Why?’

The answer: We don’t care about no stinkin’ directions. We hear what we want and figure, the person who gave the directions must not have realized how those directions weren’t actually going to work out for us. He/She can’t possibly be as smart or as wise as us, and therefore will understand when we, in our superior wisdom, do not choose to follow his/her limited vision.

The rest of the class went about the same. Instructor asked questions, and some of the  Women answered by making statements and comments that had nothing to do with the question. The rest of us were making an effort, I felt. (Notice how I grouped myself in the LATTER group…:))

In the end, we received an assignment to write a mission statement for our respective places of business.

I can’t wait to see what Women come back with, but you can bet, Instructor will wish she had never heard of ‘mission statements’. She will most likely wish she had taken up medecine as a career. Because EVERYONE listens to their doctor…

Right?

Right???