Stygiophobia

 

I am feeling a bit ornery.  I have felt this way for the last few days.  I am aggravated at one cadre of my undergraduate research students who are dawdling at working on getting needed data for talks they are scheduled to be giving soon at a regional research meeting.  

What I want to do is to put the "fear of hell" in them about their sloth-like progression. Way back in the "ice age" when I was a college student, this is exactly what a lot of professors did.  They would yell and holler, cuss at and denigrate folks who were not up to snuff. I had this happen to me ONE time way-back when.  After the dressing down I received, I never did it again.... which of course was the "goal".  

But, it left a bad taste in my mouth.  And, I actually resented the fellow for doing this.  

So, even though I am annoyed at this cadre, I do not want to treat this group in a way similar to what I experienced.  And, over the many years, I have NEVER done this.  But, it is a thought that keeps occurring from frustration.  Instead, however, what I am going to do is to try to goad them more gently into realizing how damn stressful they are making things..... for themselves AND for me as well.  I am hoping to get them to step up to the challenge and push through.  

Undergraduate students can often be a bit "flaky" at times.  It is somewhat understandable, as being a full-time undergraduate student has you pulled in a helluva lot of different directions.  But, it is making things more and more stressful for me as well.  I have been trying to work with them in developing their talk, but without the damn data being complete and collected, it is difficult to SHAPE a talk.  What I dread, which is likely to occur, is that I will end up having to pull a few "all-nighters" with this cadre once they get their damn data, so that they can finalize, practice, shape, and polish their talk in the day or two before they have to head to the damn conference.  And, I hate "all nighters" at my age.  They are no damn fun, especially when I have so many other things to do as well.

I am sending four different groups to this regional meeting.  I am also a section leader at this meeting and on the society's Executive Board.  So, it is a pretty busy time that is fast approaching.  This sloth-like condition has only happened to one of my groups two other times across the many decades.  But, when it does occur it is annoying as hell.  

There is one POTENTIAL bright spot to this regional meeting.  I MIGHT (might being the definitive word), if I can get out of the meeting early enough on the end day, be potentially able to stop at a pipe shop I know in that region, and enjoy a pipe before I drive home.  The "potential" is dependent upon many ambiguous factors at the moment:

1.  Will I get done EARLY enough on the last day to leave towards heading home with appropriate time to enjoy a bowlful before they close for the day (they do not stay open particularly late).

2.  Will I get to drive to (and back) from the conference SOLO, meaning I will not need (usually at the last minute) to give a ride to one or more of the undergrads who likely did not fully conceptualize their travel needs until the last minute.  The idea of trying to stop "frivolously" for a pipe while traveling with a non-pipe smoking person does not work well.  

3.  Will I have enough fortitude and stamina at the end of the conference which is a very busy one for me from an "administrative" position, to do anything but drive home and immediately fall in a heap on the bed?     

Not really sure how it will go.  I have my wishes and dreams, but I cannot predict reality.

PipeTobacco