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    Feb 20, 2007

    in training

    when i say "my brain is numb from training class today", i wish i could say it was in respect to the amount of info taken in, or otherwise forcefully crammed in through any convenient orrifice (ear being most efficient, but the nostril being most direct). i'll give you a small inkling by directly quoting the trainer.

    "This is important because ... (long pause as he checks a text message DURING CLASS!!) ... it's very, very important."

    then he did something that made me feel like a total nerd. he used the word "convenience" during class, then made sidebar comment about said word earning you a lot of points in scrabble. i looked at the word and instantly muttered (somewhere within the dark recesses of my mind) my low opinion of his intellect. you can't use that word in scrabble.

    - you only get seven tiles at a time
    - "convenience" has eleven letters
    - there is no root word in "convenience" that would allow building off of it later in game (you'd need at least 4 letters at first, and the closest thing would be "con", meaning you'd need 8 later, or the miracle that is the next point i'm about to make)
    - the possibility of a situation in effect that would allow for you to "fill in the spaces" to spell that word are beyond remote.

    i then felt like an even bigger nerd for having run through all the bullet points in my head and making note of them so i could now share them here.

    finally, unrelated to the fearless leader's methodology, i was again reminded of the famous phrase of my high school spanish teacher. more than once, when we redundantly went over the same information 3 different ways (gotta love training classes - hits all learning styles at least once per topic) one of the 3 caballeros in the far corner would ask to verify or have reitterated a point we'd just covered. even better was the question only came up 3 minutes into the next topic. "welcome to class". thanks mr. crawford for the phrase that never seems to lose its relevance.

    9 comments:

    Anonymous said...

    As goofy as Mr. Crawford was, the guy really taught me Spanish. Combined with working at El Pollo Loco and now a predominantly Spanish-speaking workforce, I am close to being fluent. In contrast, the moron who taught me Spanish at Delta College was awful. Whenever I need to remember my conjugations, it's like I can SEE the test from Brookside's textbooks, the font and all.

    And who could forget the following exchange:

    "¡Hola! Soy Ana Garcia. ¿Y tú?"
    "Soy Pedro Lopez."
    "¿Eres de aquí?"
    "No. Soy de Mexico."

    Anonymous said...

    OK, NOT TO BE TOO ANAL........BUT AFTER "SOY PEDRO LOPEZ." HE SAYS "MUCHO GUSTO ANA." SENOR CRAWFORD IS SHAKING HIS HEAD IN DISGUST!!

    IN CASE YOU'RE INTERESTED, GO READ MY BLOG "YOU WENT TO BCHS IF...." IT'S GOOD FOR A FEW LAUGHS!

    Anonymous said...

    okay, i didn't want to do this, but you started it ...

    "Lucia, es facil el examin?"
    "No. Es muy dificil. Hay diaz preguntas muy largas."
    "Que horror! No se nada!"
    "No te preocupes. Te ayudas de estudiar esta tarde."

    don't even ask me to remember the 3rd or beyond ... and those were year one. i'm completely blank on spanish 2.

    Anonymous said...

    Dude, I was going to mention that one. I could only remember the first and third lines, though. I find myself reciting this stuff in the shower. Here is a line from another one:

    "Una novela o quizas un disco. Son facíles buscar."

    Anonymous said...

    nerds are in? does that mean i should fear being hunted and turned into a coat or something? ... please be merciful, don't use my face for the seat of your pants.

    Anonymous said...

    Ok.

    Anonymous said...

    There's a humorous story that 'real' trainers like to tell. It somewhat explains what we do, or at least hope to do! In that guy's case - and I know of whom you speak - there is no hope! LOL What is it with him and his phone, anyway? LOL

    Okay, here's the story: a little boy brags to his sister that he taught his dog to whistle. When the sister listens and hears nothing she quizzes her brother on his statement, only to be told, "I said I taught him how to whistle, I didn't say that he learned."

    So, in some ways that describes your trainer and apparently those attendees. I call them attendees because they obviously weren't participating learners! LOL

    NJ

    Anonymous said...

    oh the horror stories ... definitely not for the public blog ...

    Anonymous said...

    lol.. wait wait.. you mean owner has to be home for the appointment right? .. no no, that's only for your employee appointment!... how many times did she ask that question...lol