Just Because It's Called "Group Work" Doesn't Make It So

It's a common tale: a team is assembled in the hopes of creating something wonderful that one person alone could not accomplish. If that has ever actually happened, you are a very lucky person. I have personally never experienced that. One person will always have taken the reins and once in a while (if they're feeling particularly bitchy that day) they will refuse to let anyone else in the group have any say in the project. It's not that nobody else works, rather that one alpha-member won't get off his or her high horse to let anyone else ruin whatever it is that was already accomplished.

I do speak from personal experience, but just in case certain people do end up reading this blog (if anyone does, really) I could get into some serious issues. Cyber bulling is not my aim and I don't want to get close to it, even when I don't know I'm doing it. It's so much easier to just rant about annoying people to others via speaking.

Unless somebody's got a tape-recorder taped to their chest and is recording every word, there's no way anything can be proven in court. 

Here-say is not definitive evidence and when it comes down to it, I really don't want to be arrested.

On that note, back to group-work. Today in AP Microeconomics we had a mock trial about this woman in Florida who was sending spam emails to people in Wisconsin. Sounds fascinating, yes? Only when we get our minds going. Of course, nobody knew what they were doing except the two team captains (in a way) that are the only people in mock trial. They were spewing legal terminology left and right while the rest of us sat in awe, dreading our moment at the stand. But it's the end of the year, grades are pretty much closed, and nobody really gives a crap anymore. Sorry, if any of you reading this are teachers, but it's true. On that note, the non-mock-trial people wanted to have some fun with the case. I became a crazy person that toted a homicidal stuffed rabbit and "Johnson Cookies and Co." decided they would sell erasers. Yeah, if you understand what the heck is going on, please let me know.

Random, but somebody just walked past my window o_0. Thought I'd let you know. In my defense, it seemed important at the time.

Anywhoo, mock trial. I'm not complaining that certain people took charge of a certain side, but at least have other people take a turn at things. On that note, I can't say anything else without heading towards that god-awful cyber bullying, so I'll call it quits. Group work just makes me want to throw a binder against the wall and scream in some ancient tongue that only the crazy lady with the dead chickens hanging in her window in some deserted village in Africa knows.

This will haunt your dreams.

And That, Dear Children, Is How A Blog Is Born

One day I decided to write down everything I thought of when it came to me. I filled up close to 18 pages in a notebook and, just for kicks, turned it in to my English teacher. Thankfully, there were few grammar mistakes to be found, rather a new way to open up my brain and explore whatever it was that I was experiencing at that point in time. I know it may sound like the beginning of every cheesy teen movie out there, but this actually happened and I am not a famous person from Hollywood. It's little ol' me from Southeast Wisconsin and I'm not afraid to say what I feel.

As my father charmingly put it, I could "sell ice to an Eskimo or light-bulbs to the Amish".

I guess I'm not the only one.

Gab is both a gift and a curse. Gift: I could become a lawyer and make billions of dollars telling people they're stupid and their ideas make zero sense. Curse: I don't always say the right thing at the right time. It's really quite a pain but at least I can respond quickly. I actually went to an interview last week and this guy (who was a lawyer) was fighting me on every point I made.

Interviewer: "Should businesses be ethically responsible for their communities?"

I mean really, what the heck kind of a question is that? Of course there are going to be multiple viewpoints. Just because I argue one doesn't mean I'm incompetent or that I have the wrong approach. Good gab in this situation: I can talk around questions.

Me:"That's a good question. You know, my dad's business does this and such in the community..."

Talking around questions and making your own points shows that you have a mind of your own. On the other hand, too much can be bad gab, i.e. you make yourself look like a complete fool.

Me: "Depending on the business in question, there could be several approaches."

And then, of course, I had to bring in econ terminology and negative externalities caused by pollution and all that fun stuff.

Just took the AP exam last month. Please excuse the econ terminology. 

I really only started getting flustered when he brought up the fact that whatever I was answering was not, in fact, what he had asked. But, in the end, he told me I did very well and that I could, in fact, become a lawyer one day. It may have influenced my choice of major a tiny bit, but then again, I could always talk the ass off a donkey.

^^ Can that even be done, technically? An ass is a donkey..question..