Situation: You’ve been directed to do something that you think is wrong, even though it doesn’t break any laws or physically hurt anyone.
Do you:
A) Do as you have been directed.
B) Do as you have been directed, but not in the manner you were directed, thus lessening the harmful effects but defeating the intended purpose of the task.
C) Refuse to do it.
D) Other (please explain)
A little background information here .
These seem to be abnormally long tests for the age group being tested. I would probably let the big kid take it, because he has already taken the LEAP test last year and he does well on standardized tests. The little guy, OTOH, is going to be a whole other kettle of fish. I have another year before I have to decide, so I need to look into the opt-out options (if there even are any!). In a perfect world it is easy to say “screw it, I am not doing this!” but few of us live in a perfect world. Especially when the likelyhood that one’s employment could be on the line is a very real possibility. It’s a sucky situation all around and I do not envy you one bit!
Sounds like a decision I had to make every day (sometimes multiple times a day) in my 20 years in the corporate world.
In this situation, I think it comes down to the kid. I was “volunteered” for a bunch of in-depth testing and spent days taking silly tests in the 6th grade. I didn’t like it, but I liked my 6th grade teacher even less (who, in one of those freakishly ironic twists, was Miss Manners’ mother), so it was all OK by me.
Taking extra time for prep tests seems like a waste of time that could be spent teaching.
But, like Gordon, I have to do things at work although I have gotten better about speaking out about some of those things.
I swear, I wish I had never taken the time off to have this surgery! So far the idiots I work with have still not gotten my assistant access to the computer system, despite my asking for over A YEAR! Because of this she has to depend on one of them to send our order in on time. If it’s not on time, the store gets fined several hundred bucks. Guess what didn’t get sent in on time Friday? Yep
Which means she gets no deilvery today, and the person I scheduled to help her get the order out today will not be available to help her with it when it shows up tomorrow 
Then I went online to reconcile the checkbook this morning and found that the boss screwed up my vacation time 
This should have been a short check (20 hours) with the first week of vacay hitting next Monday, 2 week the Monday after that. Monetarily it matters not, but with a new store director coming in and my doctor requiring 2 weeks of work post-op I have to take the full time off. The last thing I need is the new guy thinking I am supposed to be back a week before scheduled because his predecessor cannot follow his own damn instructions!!! SHIT!!!
((((Madmom))) Don’t bust a gut!
The Judge went into one of his hissy fits yesterday. I haven’t repotted enough of his wild phalaenopses and have spent too much time on my orchids and all the other ones we are caring for in the greenhouses. Mrs. Judge complained about water “all those other” orchids with her well water.
I just went with it and apologized, emailed my friends whose plants we were babysitting – with the Judge’s permission 
– that it was time to get them out. But the good news is that I convinced Mr. Gnome that we need to build our own greenhouse, and he said YES! 
@ gnome de plume:
your own greenhouse!
@ gnome de plume:
I saw what you did there
@ madmommy:
Look on the bright side – it validates your belief that nothing works right unless you’re in charge.
@ gnome de plume:
Whee! A greenhouse! I’d guess in TX that means single glazing of polycarbonate with shade cloth you can drop down? You’re probably more controlling humidity levels and moderating temps than anything else, right?
@ gordon:
Duh
I took the tests yesterday. I lost the will to live on question 68 on the math and that was the first one I took. After taking the language arts test with its 21 reading passages, I was a zombie for the rest of the day. A very grumpy zombie. These tests are 50% longer than the tests they’re supposed to be prepping for. The amount of instructional time that will be lost to do these stupid tests is ridiculous. It’s all making me very stabby.
@ Lea:
((((Lea))))
@ Lea:
Two words: voodoo dolls. Two more words: long pins. Stick long pins into voodoo dolls. Repeatedly. It will make you feel better and it might actually do something.
@ gordon:
When it is over 100° outside, the greenhouse will be in the mid to high 80′s, depending on factors. I am looking at getting one of the Solar Star Gothic Style Greenhouses out of FarmTek. But mine would be partially submerged in the ground for geothermal heating and cooling and humidifying and extra height and . . . . 
Actually, we have to bring humidity levels up – orchids need over 50%. Yes to the shade cloth, but we do use double glazed polycarb. Most important is air movement – need lots of fans going. The humidity is provided by either a water wall or a swamp cooler, depending on the size of the greenhouse. In places east of us, like NOLA or Houston they have the natural humidity in the air, but Gnomeville is far enough west that our air is dry enough that that water cooling actually cools!
Lea, give yourself a treat after all that mistreatment.
Gnome, a greenhouse–what fun for you. Will you face any zoning issues in getting your structure approved?
MM, tell your assistant to stand over the person who is to submit the order and see that he/she does it. I have found that an effective action when I am dependent on someone else completing a task that affects me.
Both Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert took Rush to task tonight. And Colbert performed a song with a star from Porgy and Bess.
@ sharonlee:
) I should be OK. Of course I will have to apply for a building permit. It would not look good to be caught without one, being who and what I am. 
Zoning issues? Moi? I am on the Gnomeville Zoning Board! I have to follow the rules! It will be an accessory building. As long as it conforms to the setbacks and stays away from the overhead utility easement (which might be a problem – the utility will want to claim my whole yard!
@ gnome de plume:
Sounds as if you have it covered.
On the Rush front, you know he is in trouble when Don Imus attacks him
Progress! I got a link embedded.
@ sharonlee:
I wish she were that tough! She is the sweetest, nicest lady you’d ever want to meet, and she wouldn’t say “boo” to a goose. So it falls to me!
Got the kids off to school, in spite of the little guy testing my patience severely. Sometimes he just wakes up surly and is ready and willing to pick a fight about anything and nothing at all. That hour between his waking and getting on the bus seems like an eternity!
@ gnome de plume:
oooo! we need a green-with-envy emotie because that is what i am. I will have to have a road trip and come visit your greenhouse.
on 2nd thought, how would we tell a green-with-envy emotie from a st patrick’s day emotie?
@ gnome de plume:
High tunnel solar in Minn. This same idea has caught on in CO, too. We have local guys who blow the hot air through a large box of gravel, and can keep soil temps (raised beds) to > 45 all year.
I’m looking at growing shitake and / or oyster mushrooms. That takes air in the 60s and humidity near 85% for about 9 months of the year. It doesn’t take much space, though, because you can grow them in bags hanging from the rafters. (I’ve already grown oyster mushrooms in hobbyist quantities.) So I’m thinking about a greenhouse with an insulated N wall and the whole N side shaded.
@ gordon:
I forgot to mention that I will also be digging a spot for my in-ground koi pond when I dig out the foundation for the greenhouse. I have toyed with the idea of running tubes through a concrete base, but I don’t know if it is worth the extra expense. The ground temp is 68 to 70 degrees, which is perfect for everything and anything.
By the latest count, Rushbo has lost 32 advertisers.
@ gordon:
It couldn’t happen to a worse person.
@ gnome de plume:
can you start an invitation-only orchid club? Only nice people
@ newdealfarmgrrrlll:
Several friends who are disgusted by the few bad apples have started the Happy Orchid Growers Fun Group! 
I just got off the phone with one of my orchid friends who has become subsumed by another hobby – aquariums. She has baby discus all over. She can sell them back to the pet shop for $20 a piece, which she hopes will pay for the 250 gallon aquarium that she is lusting after.
Just got a recorded call from the little guy’s school informing me that he is absent today. This was news to me, since I watched him get on the bus this morning. I called the school, told her what the call said, and she put me on hold to check on it. When she came back she said that he had been scooped up to go to speech therapy before his homeroom teacher did the morning headcount, that she actually laid eyes on him and he is where he is supposed to be. I wondered as I waited for her to return if she could find him as I had only told her his name and mine, but not his grade or teacher (the spelling of our last name is a bit unusual). But since this is the little guy, she knew exactly who he was and we had a chuckle over the idea that he had just decided to go on walkabout after the bus dropped him off instead of going to his classroom. After all, this is the kid who decides to move away from us at least once a month
@ madmommy:
I had a call like that regarding the Gnephew when I was in Portland, only he was absent. There was no way I could get him out of bed. I called the school and the secretary knew exactly what I was talking about. He does this quite often. In fact GnomeSis and the Principal have had talks over how to get Gnephew to want to go to school.
Good news!! We found out today that we are NOT to give the mock tests! We can use questions from them as a part of a lesson, but we are not to give them as a test nor are we to turn in the bubble sheets. A win for the good guys! Word has it that the district curriculum person was horrified that this was even proposed.
WOOHOO March Madness starts next week!
@ Lea:
Some actual sanity crops up.
Gnome, the happy orchid people sound like a good alternative.
Birds have invaded my place. Seems there is a hole in the siding and birds are nesting. One of my brothers will come out next week to deal with the critters. I didn’t complain when they nested in my tree, but going into the siding is not to be allowed.
@ Lea:
I am so glad to hear that someone somewhere with authority in education did the right thing!
He sits through every game. Every year the tournament falls over his birthday, so this is his gift to himself. He asked me tonight if I wanted to go to a game or two with him. (Gnomette and GnomeSon will be joining him on Saturday). He got very upset when I admitted for the very first time that I really don’t care for basketball. He was a star way back when and prolly could have played in Europe professionally. So I just broke his heart. 
@ newdealfarmgrrrlll:
Mr. Gnome’s version of March Madness starts tomorrow. Every year he goes to the state high school basketball tournament in Austin. It lasts for four days!
Well, it’s not a total victory. I don’t have to give it as a test within the next couple of weeks, but I do have to use the questions “judiciously and prudently” as part of lessons or review. I can live with that.
Today is the day to shampoo the carpets. Mom brought her shampooer down when she came to babysit Major, so the least I can do is use it
@ madmommy:
You are still in recovery mode. I don’t believe that includes carpet shampooing.
@ sharonlee:
I didn’t do it, she did. And when the big kid came home, he did his room. Not that you could tell. Black paint spilled on beige carpet tends not to come off