Fun(ish) Fact Friday!!

* One of the interesting/surreal things that I experienced at Blogher that I didn't write about in my post on the subject (because, seriously, HOW LONG COULD IT BE?) was the level of connectedness there.  And by connectedness, I mean, to electronic devices and the internet (when you could get a connection, that is).  Initially, it struck me as almost surreal.  I come from a background of mostly [boring-ass] conferences where everyone faces front and uh, takes notes.  On paper.  At Blogher, it seemed that no matter WHAT was happening up front, EVERYONE was on iphones or laptops.  Or both. 

*  I have never seen so many iphones in one place.  Seriously.  Apple should sponsor Blogher because Bloggers?  Are sponsoring Apple.

*  I should have had a shirt made that said, 'Technical Din-o-SAUR' because, there I was, Twittering from my cell phone.  That, uh, FLIPS OPEN.  OMFG.

* It struck me that this was just a complete social norm for this group and that these super-connecters had totally FOUND THEIR TRIBE.  It must be a TOTAL DRAG to have that inclination and to be in a crowd of people who would find this behavior odd or out of the ordinary.  It was interesting to me, and made me wish that I'd purchased a Blackberry before I went.

*  I am, and have always been, a MAD DOODLER.  Grade school, high school, college, grad school, conferences, meetings, ET CETERA.  Any materials that we've been given have inevitably been COVERED in doodles, drawings, designs.  Depending on the peer group in the setting, this behavior is: 1) completely acceptable and shared by most of the other participants or 2) makes me look like a complete asshole who is not paying attention.

*  I totally AM, though.  Paying attention, I mean.  I'm not a complete asshole.  You'll just have to trust me on that one.

* I started a book on the plane about a kid who is bullied for his whole young life and then shoots up his school. 

*  Having worked with kids for a long time, I have seen my fair share of the range of bullying behaviors to which some kids are subjected.

*  I can unequivocally say that (for me, personally) if my child was being (for real) bullied in school, I wouldn't take a New York Hot Fucking Second before yanking her out to homeschool.  Not that I think that she'd shoot up a school or anything.  In fact, I think that the profile of a real school shooter would be a bit different than the one painted in this (fictional) account.  I'm just saying, I know how difficult the situation can be and how difficult it is for the adults in charge to actually effect change.  If you or your child was ever bullied, you have my UTMOST empathy because the whole situation sucks, Sucks, SUCKS.

*  After re-reading, I seem to have [careened out of control] veered away from the FUN and drifted solidly toward the ISH, in regards to the Facts in this post.

*  So, let me make it up to you.  Here's a fun fact about my days as a waitress (more of a story, really):

One time, I was walking into a PACKED dining room with a giant tray of food hoisted onto my shoulder and a plate in my other hand.  A rookie waitress came into the kitchen through the out door and caught the side of my tray, tipping it off balance.  THE WHOLE ENTIRE MESS came CRASHING to the ground, right outside the kitchen, in front of the whole dining room.  I turned and bolted into the way back, to compose myself (I swear, doing that is like being in a CAR ACCIDENT, that's how shaky you get).  After it was all fixed and things were calm, the [smart-ass] cook called me over and here was our conversation:

SAC: 'TNG, can I ask you a question?'

Me: 'Sure.'

SAC: 'You had a loaded tray, right?'

Me: 'Right.'

SAC: 'And you had a plate in your other hand, right?'

Me: 'Riiight.'

SAC: 'So, what happened to the plate in your other hand when you dropped the tray?'

Me: '------?'

SAC: 'I mean, did you just say, 'Aw, fuck it,' and throw it onto the heap?'

Have a great weekend!

Comments

[-R-]

I am a technology dinosaur too. I have a phone that flips open! But I never even use Twitter on it or text message! I do also have a Blackberry, but only because I have to have it for work, and my company pays for it.

Just out of curiosity, do you think changing schools would stop the bullying? Or do you think there would just be bullying by different people?

The restaurant story cracks me up. I only dropped one or two plates, I think. But I lived in constant fear that I would drop a whole tray.

[Manic Mommy]

"Bloggers are sponsoring Apple" - hysterical and so true! Were you at the closing keynote when they were discussing tech addiction and people were Tweeting it?

PS I got the Blackberry specifically for BlogHer. I would recommend giving yourself more than three hours on a plane to get yourself up to speed - stressssful.

[The New Girl]

-R-: It is my experience that a lot of the kids who experience genuine, soul-crushing bullying (I am differentiating between that and more run-of-the-mill, trying to find a place in the pecking order, etc.) are awesome kids who have some difficulties processing social cues. And unfortunately, the direct involvement of adults often exacerbates the problems for the victim. So, that if the kid changes schools, it can (sometimes? often?) be a matter of time before the dynamic begins to repeat itself.

Let me say that I don't believe that the victims are responsible for the bullying that is happening, they're not 'asking for it.' There's nothing WRONG with them. In a Just and Fair world, the victims SHOULD NOT have to change things about themselves to stop the harrassment, but sometimes, that's what helps. 'Bullyproofing.' That, and educating/supporting standers-by, who often are very uncomfortable with what's happening but who are afraid to speak out.

[Gaby]

Have you seen this study, reported on by Time? It states that doodling actually HELPS people pay attention! Here's a link http://www.time.com/time/health/article/0,8599,1882127,00.html. Feel free to print out multiple copies of this to hand out to anyone who dares give you the stink eye while you doodle.

[mayberry]

Oh, me, can I be in your Dinosaur Flip Phone Users Tribe? I felt SO LAME in the presence of the 8 kajillion iPhones.

(But it was awesome to meet you, regardless of phone status)

[anne]

Are you reading the Jodi Piccoult book 19 Minutes??

[the new girl]

Anne: I AM. I went to CVS at 5AM the morning of my flight to get some things for the plane. That was the book I chose, although, I didn't fully know the content before purchasing. I think it's good, though.

[Secret Mom Thoughts]

Love the waitress story. And I'm more of a dinosaur since I don't even twitter.

[Jen]

I was going to ask if you were reading 19 Minutes too until I saw Anne's comment. I thought it was good...certainly makes you think. The constant twittering thing cracks me up; I get the evil eye from the husband when I try to twitter/facebook/email throughout dinner. :-) He is not of the connection mindset.

[mimi]

Yeah, baby, I got bullied for a long time in elementary school. Shudder. Don't much like to think about that now. If that ever happened to Munchkin, I would have a REALLY hard time not freaking completely OUT.

Oh, I'm totally sponsoring Apple, myself: this house has two macbook pros and my office has an iMac. We have two iPods and I'm getting my iPhone in September. You know, to help with my back to school productivity [avoidance].

[Swistle]

I find doodling contagious. If I'm near someone who's doodling, I do it too.

OMG, I once had a full glass of ice water tip in slow motion off my tray and onto a customer, and I totally bolted.

I had a problem with bullies in school, and I use the thought of homeschooling to get me through the anxiety I feel sending my kids off to school. It's very comforting to know I have that option, even though I would not be the world's most patient teacher.

IS that what happened to the plate? How funny!

[donna]

just wanted to say how great it was to meet you at BlogHer. Not sure if you remember me, I was one of the girls trailing behind Erica in all her gloriousness all weekend! (Yes, I decided to make gloriousness a word).

And I didn't even pat your belly, though I badly wanted to.

[Lori Portka]

funny about the flip open phone lol!!

[the new girl]

Swistle: HA HA HA! I really, REALLY had to ponder what the hell happened to the plate in the other hand. My hunch is that it was the first to go, dropped in attempt to catch the tray with the ASSLOAD of food on it...lmao.

[amanda]

You are too adorable, in person and onscreen :)

[Julie @ The Mom Slant]

I don't doodle but I twirl my pen. It's totally distracting to other people (because they're trying to figure out how I do it) and I've been told more than once to stop.

Oh, and my phone flips open too. I'm not a dinosaur; I'm just cheap.

[Beth from SJ]

I'm getting together this summer with other moms to help implement anti-bullying ideas at our school. Lots of issues this past year so after talking to the principal she gave the go ahead for moms to put heads together and come up with ideas - one idea is to try and teach children who are bystanders of said bullying how to help. Hmm, re-reading this it's not coming out correctly, but bottom line is we mom want to fill our kids with knowledge about how bullying is wrong and how to help one another in that kind of situation. Sigh.

One of my fav waitress stories was when I worked in a chain restaurant in a mall the makeup ladies from Macy's would come all the time and be royal b*tches. I shudder thinking of it. So one day as I was walking away from their table they started yelling at me for all this stuff. I was so friggin pissed I turned around and while speaking also used sign language and said "I have a hearing problem and I cannot understand anything you say unless you speak it to my face. Please do not yell at me while I am walking away it is useless." The one lady then held up a fork indicating she wanted extra silverware and looked completely embarrased. Maybe I was wrong, but from that point on they were nice as pie to me!

[Weight Control Help & Strategies]

Nice Blog!

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