Don’t Quote Me

So get this: I sent an e-mail yesterday to two people. The message went to our IT person and to the lady who handles the attendance reports. The message informed the two that the software program we use to take attendance was not loaded on my computer when I logged on in the morning and would be sending down the paper back-up form we use for such an incident, until the issue was tended to.

Mrs. Ballard, the lady in charge of the attendance, replies-all with, “Dale, could you please tend to the issue of the ‘disappeared’ icon ASAP.”

Now Dale, from IT, is a professional. He knew what needed to be done. There was no need for Ballard to tell him what to do. He’ll get to it when he can. Lord knows he has a number of teachers bothering him about stuff like, “Is there any way to copy a folder and attach it to a document?” or “Can I show a television program through my ELMO?” I have all the confidence that he will prioritize and get to me “ASAP” as Ballard had instructed.

Do you notice how I quoted something that she said? See that’s how quoting works. Someone says something, and I repeat it exactly as she said it by quoting her. She unfortunately didn’t give me the same courtesy. She indicated that I claimed the icon disappeared by putting quotes around the word. It was odd because I never used such a word. I said the program, quote, “did not show up when I logged on,” end quote.

I know that I’ve got a million other things to worry about than being misquoted, but why would she make an effort to credit me with saying something I did not say? Maybe I’m just getting in research paper mode for next semester, but if you ask me, she came off as accusing me of something. It was like if it wasn’t an e-mail she was speaking through, but we were face to face, then she would use air quotes as she talked.

Did you hear? His icon “disappeared” (flanked by a double-pump, two-handed, peace signs gesture) from his computer.

There would probably an eye roll thrown in there too.

She’s right. I was probably lying about the icon so I could get out of submitting the attendance on-line just to make her life more difficult. That sounds about right because you know it is worth filling out paper attendance forms in triplicate to stick it to her. That “makes sense.”