Will they *EVER* learn???

[Ben E Lou]

"If a dog bites a man once, that's the dog's fault. If that SAME dog, bites that SAME man again, that's the man's fault."
(Robert Lewis's take on "Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me.)


So, you're a Junior in High School. You've been involved with a certain youth organization in the Tucker community since you were in 8th grade. TWICE you've missed out on trips simple because you procrastinated, even though your leader told you he'd let you sign up simply by dropping off the form by his house. Your leader lives very close to the high school you attend, and because of where you live, you drive RIGHT PAST HIS HOUSE every morning before school and every evening after school. Heck, on the way to school, when you're in the right lane and the guy who rides to school with you is in the passenger seat, all you'd have to do would be to hand the form to the guy sitting next to you in the car, and he could stick it in your leader's mailbox. It would cost you, oh, 3 seconds of time in the morning.

You receive a flier for a trip that will take place in February '05. You receive it in mid-October of '04. You come to meetings with this group about 75% of the Monday nights between mid October and February. You've heard this is a great trip, and you'd like to go. Every time you go to the meetings, there are fliers available to sign up. Even if you lost the flier, you could have picked one up, right? However, somehow you manage not to have one in mid-January, when you IM your leader and ask him if he can e-mail you another one. He e-mails it to you moments later. At this point, what do you do????


a. Get your mom or dad to sign the form immediately, and mail it in, because you know you are prone to procrastinate and might not turn it in if left up to yourself.
b. Get your mom or dad to sign the form immediately, or at least soon, and then drop it off at your leader's house some time in the next few days.
c. Get your mom or dad to sign the form soon, and take it with you to one of the meetings of the organization on one of the Mondays that you attend.
d. Get your mom or dad to sign the form soon, and give it to the kid who is very responsible who you are friends with and lives about four houses down from you, and have HER turn it in at one of the weekly meetings, because everyone knows she almost never misses one.
e. Wait until two days before the trip, and IM your leader again, saying....
xxxxxxxxxx (9:03:52 AM): Hey Ben, where do you turn in your money for SharpTop?
Ben E Lou (9:04:00 AM): at this point, bring it to my house
Ben E Lou (9:04:25 AM): steve, have you like, EVER turned in money for a trip before the last minute? :-P
xxxxxxxxxx (9:04:53 AM): haha, I don't think so
xxxxxxxxxx (9:05:05 AM): Should I just put it in your mailbox or when would be a good time to run it by?
Ben E Lou (9:05:11 AM): mailbox is fine
xxxxxxxxxx (9:05:33 AM): awesome, well gotta go to school Ben, see ya Friday!
Ben E Lou (9:05:40 AM): see ya
xxxxxxxxxx signed off at 9:05:42 AM.

[gstelmack]

I'll take "c". So which one was it?

http://dynamic2.gamespy.com/%7Efof/forums/images/smilies/biggrin.gif

[FrogMan]

does he need a sleeping bag or not?

FM

[Ben E Lou]

Oh, and don't ask me why he was just going to school after 9am. It starts shortly after 8. :p

[FrogMan]

Oh, and don't ask me why he was just going to school after 9am. It starts shortly after 8. :p
err, busted! :D

FM

[ISiddiqui]

Let me guess... two days AFTER the trip, Skydog gets the IM:

"Hey Ben, where do you turn in your money for SharpTop?"

;)

[Ben E Lou]

does he need a sleeping bag or not?

FMYes, and he also needs towels. And of course, it says so right on the form that they're supposed to keep the top half of when they turn in their registration from the bottom half. However, we'll get there on Friday, and I'll have one or both of these conversations on Friday night and/or Saturday morning:

CONVERSATION ONE: (Friday night)
Non-Reading High School Student: Dude, I didn't know we were supposed to bring a sleeping bag. Ben!!! Why didn't you tell me?
Ben: Well, I made sure to announce it at the last three meetings, and it was in the e-mail I sent on Thursday morning to you and your folks with the last-minute details and reminders on it.
Non-Reading High School Student: Dude, that sucks. Man, Ben, you did me WRONG! This weekend is gonna SUCK!

CONVERSATION TWO: (Saturday morning)
Non-Reading High School Student: Dude, I didn't know we had to bring our own towels. Ben!!! Why didn't you tell me?
Ben: Well, I made sure to announce it at the last three meetings, and it was in the e-mail I sent on Thursday morning to you and your folks with the last-minute details and reminders on it.
Non-Reading High School Student: Dude, that sucks. Man, Ben, you did me WRONG! This weekend is gonna SUCK!

[Buzzbee]

Yes, and he also needs towels. And of course, it says so right on the form that they're supposed to keep the top half of when they turn in their registration from the bottom half. However, we'll get there on Friday, and I'll have one or both of these conversations on Friday night and/or Saturday morning:

CONVERSATION ONE: (Friday night)
Non-Reading High School Student: Dude, I didn't know we were supposed to bring a sleeping bag. Ben!!! Why didn't you tell me?
Ben: Well, I made sure to announce it at the last three meetings, and it was in the e-mail I sent on Thursday morning to you and your folks with the last-minute details and reminders on it.
Non-Reading High School Student: Dude, that sucks. Man, Ben, you did me WRONG! This weekend is gonna SUCK!

CONVERSATION TWO: (Saturday morning)
Non-Reading High School Student: Dude, I didn't know we had to bring our own towels. Ben!!! Why didn't you tell me?
Ben: Well, I made sure to announce it at the last three meetings, and it was in the e-mail I sent on Thursday morning to you and your folks with the last-minute details and reminders on it.
Non-Reading High School Student: Dude, that sucks. Man, Ben, you did me WRONG! This weekend is gonna SUCK!
You forgot:

CONVERSATION THREE: (Saturday night)
Non-Reading High School Student: Dude, I didn't know we had to bring our own condoms. Ben!!! Why didn't you tell me?
Ben: Well, I made sure to announce it at the last three meetings, and it was in the e-mail I sent on Thursday morning to you and your folks with the last-minute details and reminders on it.
Non-Reading High School Student: Dude, that sucks. Man, Ben, you did me WRONG! This weekend is gonna SUCK!

[Fritz]

xxxxxxxxxx (9:03:52 AM): Hey Ben, where do you turn in your money for Carrot Top?
Ben E Lou (9:04:00 AM): at this point, bring it to my house in a brown envelope. Cash please.
Ben E Lou (9:04:25 AM): steve, have you like, EVER turned in money for a trip before the last minute? Don't make me send "the boys" over again.
xxxxxxxxxx (9:04:53 AM): I don't think so. Please, not the boys.
xxxxxxxxxx (9:05:05 AM): Should I just put it in your mailbox or when would be a good time to run it by?
Ben E Lou (9:05:11 AM): mailbox is fine. cash only. brown unmarked envelope.
xxxxxxxxxx (9:05:33 AM): awesome, well gotta go to school Ben, see ya Friday!
Ben E Lou (9:05:40 AM): see ya, and don't forget you are low on candy sales. The boys will be by to help motivate you if your sales lag.
xxxxxxxxxx signed off at 9:05:42 AM.

GottiDog is more like it

[Ben E Lou]

Let me guess... two days AFTER the trip, Skydog gets the IM:

"Hey Ben, where do you turn in your money for SharpTop?"

;)You joke, but I have gotten the "Oh man, I didn't know the trip was THIS weekend!!!" comment more than once from a kid who is on both our mailing and e-mailing lists, and who comes to meetings almost every week.

I've never vented about weekend trips, but they can be even worse than summer trips, because many don't feel the need to even bother to sign up until the last minute. I had a kid who works in the Applebee's at Tucker turn in her form to a leader who happened to be having dinner there last night, leaving me to wonder what the heck she planned to do with it. There's almost always at least one kid who shows up for a weekend trip at the bus with money and registration form in hand who hasn't communicated with us at all that he/she is planning to go. Worse than that, more than once I've had the parent of that kid call me the following week to complain that their kid had to sleep on a mattress on the floor because we didn't have a bed for them. I'm not kidding you. What's more is that most of the kids involved are from middle and upper-middle class homes. Nearly all of their parents are college-educated, and many of them have post-graduate degrees. Scary.

[ISiddiqui]

You joke, but I have gotten the "Oh man, I didn't know the trip was THIS weekend!!!" comment more than once from a kid who is on both our mailing and e-mailing lists, and who comes to meetings almost every week.
LOL! Man, I just don't get it. You'd think at some point it'd get in their heads. I wonder what else you could do, put a post-it note on their forehead so their parents could see it? ;)

Worse than that, more than once I've had the parent of that kid call me the following week to complain that their kid had to sleep on a mattress on the floor because we didn't have a bed for them.
Parents suck. Their kids can never do wrong.

[gstelmack]

What's more is that most of the kids involved are from middle and upper-middle class homes. Nearly all of their parents are college-educated, and many of them have post-graduate degrees. Scary.
That doesn't surprise me. They just can't admit they were wrong...

[A-Husker-4-Life]

Dang that just has to be very frustrating, I feel for u dog.... I work as a network administrator and I have clients just like this.... They say,"You didn't tell me to backup my info" even though I emailed them 5 times about it and stated it in numerous meetings. Then something happens to the info and I get blamed for it... Oh well what are u going to.....

[korme]

GottiDog is more like it
http://dynamic2.gamespy.com/%7Efof/forums/images/smilies/biggrin.gifhttp://dynamic2.gamespy.com/%7Efof/forums/images/smilies/biggrin.gifhttp://dynamic2.gamespy.com/%7Efof/forums/images/smilies/biggrin.gif

[sterlingice]

does he need a sleeping bag or not?

FM
Classic.

SI

[FrogMan]

Yes, and he also needs towels.
So, to summarize:

Summer trip = no sleeping bag
Weekend trip = sleeping bag and towels.

PAGING FLERE-IMSAHO, PAGING FLERE-IMSAHO...
we would need this to be diagrammed, just so the kids and the kids' parents would remember it. Thanks.

FM

[gstelmack]

Yeah, if you use one of flere's diagrams for the next trip, maybe it will sink in then. I think this is a must...

[AnalBumCover]

PAGING FLERE-IMSAHO, PAGING FLERE-IMSAHO...
we would need this to be diagrammed, just so the kids and the kids' parents would remember it. Thanks.With or without the sex arrows?

[Ben E Lou]

Hmmmm.....Here's wondering if I should combine two threads. Why am I wondering this, you ask? Well, boys and girls, I'll tell you why! It is because, just a few minutes ago, our old friend Obtuse Mother (http://dynamic2.gamespy.com/~fof/forums/showpost.php?p=479109&postcount=50) and her daughter just left my house. Yes, they've known about this trip since back in mid-October. No, they didn't have any conflicts, and I know that they don't have a problem coming up with the money to pay for it. Doesn't matter, though. They waited until tonight--the night before the trip--to decide to bother with that whole get-registered-and-paid thing.

Ya know, I LOVE living right smack-dab in the middle of the Tucker community where I do ministry, and living on a road that everyone knows due to my neighborhood being a huge cut-through, and having people know that they can drop by any time, BUT on nights like this, it would be nice to be able to at least make these people drive 20 or 30 minutes to drop off the forms. I've gotten two other phone calls from people who will be coming by the house tonight to sign up as well.


EDIT: More history on our friend Obtuse Mother (http://dynamic2.gamespy.com/~fof/forums/showpost.php?p=544916&postcount=55)

[Ben E Lou]

Oh, and if anyone is wondering, yes, the Tucker girls' cabin is full, as are all of the female cabins in camp, so Obtuse Mother's little precious daughter will be sleeping on a mattress on the floor in the room with her friends. Anyone want to lay odds on whether or not I'll receive the "I-can't-believe-you-made-my-daughter-sleep-on-the-floor" phone call early next week?

[Joe]

so... can I still sign up?

[Ben E Lou]

so... can I still sign up?You and your Secret Service agents would all have to sleep on the floor, but sure! ;)

[Franklinnoble]

Oh, and if anyone is wondering, yes, the Tucker girls' cabin is full, as are all of the female cabins in camp, so Obtuse Mother's little precious daughter will be sleeping on a mattress on the floor in the room with her friends.

Hey man, pix pls, kthx.

[brimick79]

give it to the kid who is very responsible who you are friends with and lives about four houses down from you, and have HER turn it in at one of the weekly meetings, because everyone knows she almost never misses one.[/left]


pics pls k thnx.


you know it's funny I really thought of this as soon as I got here.. I spent like 20 minutes reading the whole thread, hoping against that hope that no one used this. I thought I was home free. And then I saw the lost post. Damn :(

[Ragone]

No offense Skydog, but if tcy had accurate academic prep ratings.. Tucker would get a 1. maybe 2 :)


from all the stories you've told us

[Ben E Lou]

No offense Skydog, but if tcy had accurate academic prep ratings.. Tucker would get a 1. maybe 2 :)


from all the stories you've told usWhat's scary is that it is just as bad at Lakeside as at Tucker. Lakeside is a school with an average SAT score well above the national average. Because I live in the Tucker district, I don't get the drop-offs at my house from the LHS parents. However, I get my share of dumb e-mails from the LHS soccer moms (LHS is a good deal more affluent than THS.) Plus, for whatever reason, we tend to get more of the show-up-at-the-bus-unannounced-with-registration-in-hand kids from LHS. Of course, those soccer moms are the ones that can't FATHOM that I'd make their precious little babies sleep on a mattress that is on the floor, just because we didn't reserve room for them. I mean, heck, I should have KNOWN that Little Precious was going to show up with money in hand, since the world, after all, REVOLVES around Little Precious, who gets a $250-per-month allowance despite the fact that he does no chores around the house or in the yard...

I could go on, but I think you get the picture. ;)

EDIT: Oh yeah, and both of the response e-mails mentioned in the other thread--the ones that had the question specifically answered had they bothered to read the e-mail they were replying to--came from LHS moms.

[Ragone]

Chores? Whats that? don't we hire people to do those?

[Ben E Lou]

Chores? Whats that? don't we hire people to do those?Bingo.

[sterlingice]

who gets a $250-per-month allowance despite the fact that he does no chores around the house or in the yard...
Damn! To get that kind of money, I had to mow the lawn for half a year (well, 25 weeks). But at least in Houston that was doable since there were only about 3 or 4 months where you didn't mow and even then, there might be a warm January or something where you go and mow through the jungle because it hadn't been mowed in 3 weeks.

SI

[Coffee Warlord]

Jesus. Yes, my folks were and are wealthy. No, while I did a few things around the house, I didn't do much.

They would have looked at me like I was a fucking nutjob if I asked for 250 bucks. Hell, if I asked for 20 bucks they woulda thought I was out of my mind.

[ISiddiqui]

$250 a MONTH?! My Lord...

[sterlingice]

My parents were pretty firm believers both in allowances and also having to work for them (learning the value of money and all).

When I was little (so, we're talking 1980s dollars), my sister and I got 50c for folding the laundry for the week. Save up for about a quarter of a year ($9) and that was a box of baseball cards :D

Later on, my parents gave both of us $5 for cleaning the house for the week- vacuum, sweep, mop, and dust. My parents wouldn't let me mow the lawn because of bad pollen allergies but I did that despite horrible dust allergies. Go figure.

Anyways, by 7th or 8th grade, I finally convinced them to let me mow the lawn and, frankly, I found lawn work a lot better than indoor cleaning. So, I had to mow frontyard, backyard, sides, weedeat, edge, and sweep for $10. But that was good cash, especially for only about 2 hours work (even in 95 degree/95 humidity heat).

SI

[Ben E Lou]

I just found out this week about the kid who gets $250 per month. Yes, I was stunned.

[Ben E Lou]

Hmmmm.....Here's wondering if I should combine two threads. Why am I wondering this, you ask? Well, boys and girls, I'll tell you why! It is because, just a few minutes ago, our old friend Obtuse Mother (http://dynamic2.gamespy.com/%7Efof/forums/showpost.php?p=479109&postcount=50) and her daughter just left my house. Yes, they've known about this trip since back in mid-October. No, they didn't have any conflicts, and I know that they don't have a problem coming up with the money to pay for it. Doesn't matter, though. They waited until tonight--the night before the trip--to decide to bother with that whole get-registered-and-paid thing.So we left on Friday, less than 24 hours after Obtuse Mother and her daughter came by, paid, and picked up the paperwork that needed to be filled out. Fast forward to Friday at 6:30pm, as we were about to leave:

Obtuse Mother (walking up): Hey Ben, wasn't there some paperwork that you gave us last night to fill up?
Ben: Yes, we need a parental signature and insurance information, just in case anything happens.
Obtuse Mother: Well, we can't find it. Do you have another copy of it?
Ben's Inner Monologue: AWWWWWWWWGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!

Unbelievable. Un-freakin-believable. I sometimes wonder how that family gets through the basic functions of life.

[Ragone]

At some point Ben, you gotta just make a stand and say "Sorry, little precious cannot go" These upper class snobs will continue to do this kinda crap otherwise

[Vince]

Wow -- not to repeat what everyone else has already said here -- but wow. $250? That's nuts. I thought I was treated pretty well, and I got $2 per week for doing the dishes and taking out the trash EVERY DAY. My little brother and I would alternate, a week on, a week off. I don't know what the hell I would have DONE with $250 -- I'm sure I would have found something, but my little kid mind wouldn't have been able to comprehend that much money being mine all at once.

[Ben E Lou]

At some point Ben, you gotta just make a stand and say "Sorry, little precious cannot go" These upper class snobs will continue to do this kinda crap otherwiseActually, this particular family isn't upper class at all, although they're not poor either.

Given the vision of the ministry I run, I'd never even consider putting a deadline on when they can sign up to go on a trip. As long as there's physically room to take them, I'll take them.

[Ragone]

Actually, this particular family isn't upper class at all, although they're not poor either.

Given the vision of the ministry I run, I'd never even consider putting a deadline on when they can sign up to go on a trip. As long as there's physically room to take them, I'll take them.

Maybe So Ben, but they aren't gonna learn the lesson until someone gets left out

[SlapBone]

You know...I can think of many times in my life I would have procrastinated if I had only gotten around to it.

[tucker342]

LOL

SkyDog, I know you don't want to, but next time give them a deadline! You shouldn't have to put up with that shit the night before you're supposed to go.

[SackAttack]

Oh, and if anyone is wondering, yes, the Tucker girls' cabin is full, as are all of the female cabins in camp, so Obtuse Mother's little precious daughter will be sleeping on a mattress on the floor in the room with her friends.

I mean, heck, I should have KNOWN that Little Precious was going to show up with money in hand, since the world, after all, REVOLVES around Little Precious, who gets a $250-per-month allowance despite the fact that he does no chores around the house or in the yard...

Are we talking about the same Little Precious here, Ben? If so, I think we know where that $250/month is going...

[ISiddiqui]

Maybe So Ben, but they aren't gonna learn the lesson until someone gets left out
Yep, I totally agree. But I understand Ben's point too. It's a hard decision to make. Who knows though, maybe one day Ben snaps and says "Enough is Enough!" ;)

[tucker342]

I was reading the thread from a couple of months ago called Vent Time that SkyDog linked to above... I thought this was hilarious


My son is going on the Crooked Creek trip, and I had

some questions for you.

Our family doctor has unfortunately had to leave his

practice for a few months. While he is, well,

incarcerated, we're kinda stuck here because his

assistant won't sign anything without his insurance

board reviewing it. I don't think there's time.

My wife has a PhD in English from Emory. Is it okay if

she signs the form? She's technically a doctor.

You recommended drinking a half gallon of water each

day between now and the trip. Evian only gives its

size in ML. How many ML is in a half gallon?

Also, my son has some anger issues, and we've found

that allowing him three or four hours every evening

with his GameBoy and his favorite games (he's partial

to the Zelda series lately) does wonders for his sense

of well being. Is it okay if he takes his GameBoy to

camp? He'll promise to use his headphones. Would it

help if my wife signed a form for that as well?

Oh, one more question. Would you be so kind as to

drive the kids to an area that does have cell phone

reception each evening. Our dog, Snookie, is ailing a

bit, and our son just won't sleep unless he knows

Snookie is okay. We'd be happy to pay for the extra

gasoline.

Thank you so much,

Hardy Smith