putting the mental back into supple-mental

what follows is a series of conversations i had with my supervisor at work last week.

monday morning,

G: ryan, we need to prepare some supplemental materials for the junior high classes next week.

R: alright, can i choose them?

G: yes, you choose.

R: ok then i'm going to pick some lessons from last year's books written by the teachers. probably one of frank's, one of elliot's and one of my own.

G: great! also you need to schedule the materials to be taught next semester.

R: no problem. when do you need them?

G: as soon as possible. because we need to make copies for the students. and we need you to schedule the junior high quizzes.

R: ok.

that afternoon i had a free period before my last class so i checked the supplemental lessons with the junior high teachers and turned them into our secretary, who shares an office with my supervisor. from there the materials were to be taken to main office, photocopied, bound and distributed to the students. leaving them with said secretary i had every confidence that it would be done. i later found out that it was done, though perhaps too efficiently...

tuesday,

i had 2 more free periods in the morning so i finished the quiz schedule and the 19 week schedule of which pages are to be taught which week and again turned them into our secretary, again assuming the would be turned into my supervisor, which they were...

wednesday,

our secretary was absent. that afternoon my supervisor came to me with the curriculum schedule i had written on tuesday along with the quiz schedule and said...

G: ryan, our director has a problem with the quiz dates.

R: ok, what is it that he doesn't like?

G: he thinks they are too close together.

R: ok, no problem, we'll just move one of the may quizzes to june. i'll change it.

G: good. now, what is this "supplemental materials" you wrote on the schedule for the winter session?

R: um.. the supplemental materials you asked me to prepare for the winter classes... on monday? remember?

G: well, i think we need to get them to the main office for copying so they'll be ready for next week.

R: i already turned them in. monday afternoon.

G: oh. well why didn't i see them?

R: i don't know. you said i could choose whatever lessons I wanted. so i did and i gave them to our secretary, on monday...

G: well, why didn't she tell me?

R: i don't know. she's not here today.

G: but she could have told me yesterday.

R: yes. i guess.

G: well, why didn't she?

R: i don't know, maybe you two need to improve your communication.

G: but we speak the same language...

R: ....

at this point she grew red in the face, stormed out of the teacher's office and went down to her second floor office. i called after her, "grace. grace? can we finish the conversation?" ... to no answer. so i followed her down to the office where i found her pacing wildly behind her desk muttering to herself. i walked in and didn't get two words out before she said "i can't talk to you about this now!" and physically shoved me out of the office and slammed the door in my face, locking the door and retreating to the back of the office shaking her head and gesturing into the air. okaaaay..... i had class so i went and did it.
after class i tried to talk to her put she just stormed out of the office with her head down saying, "i'm sick, i'm on sick leave." furious she was...

i'm thinking that it may have been the communication comment. i think i hit a sore note. this isn't the first meltdown, but the first one this bad this year. past years have seen plenty of insanity like ht e time she freaked out that there was too much trash in the classrooms, so... she removed all the trash cans from the language center, ostensibly to eliminate trash accumulation... last year after a row with one of our foreign teachers, she didn't talk to any of the staff for a month...

i called our secretary to warn her of the shitstorm coming her way the next morning. as expected, it came, all frustrations were taken out on her, as usual, and as usual there were tears, however prepared she may have been... she even had to have a meeting with the deans because of this...

this week, everyone's acting like it didn't happen. all smiles and happy thoughts.

bread was right. i always knew he was right but had never experienced a meltdown of this directed my way before. the devil in disguise! indeed! disgraceful!

anyone else have a crazy boss?