I have worked very carefully to nurture my student assistants. I want them to enjoy the job as well as performing to standards set both by the main library administration and by me. I make every effort to reward good performance. (I even keep the candy jar filled with chocolate.)
Most of the time I have no complaint. However, I can’t say that about today. It is not only the end of Spring Break, it is Easter Sunday. The library is open from 1-10pm. I sent out an email to the students on February 28 stating that the library would be open and they would be expected to find subs if they couldn’t work. I repeated this several times. I knew that one student wouldn’t be back (lucky thing got to go to Italy for break) and I figured that the student who got viral pneumonia and missed two weeks of class before Spring Break was questionable.
I wasn’t particularly happy, therefore, when I got a call from the Grad. Assistant saying that she was all alone. So, I came in at 1:30 and here I sit. Haven’t heard from either the young man who was supposed to be here from 1-5, nor from the young woman who was supposed to be here from 5-10.
We have barely a handful of patrons…Tony (the GA who came in at 5) could handle the place by himself. That isn’t right and, who knows, we could get hit with a wave of users later in the evening. (Don’t laugh, it could happen.) I could go to my bi-weekly D&D game and enjoy myself. Instead, I’m working on things for the upcoming week…it will make my life easier.
I am going to speak sternly to the students who didn’t show up. There’s not a whole lot else I can do. I can’t ground them. I can’t fire them (I could, but that would punish me more than anyone else). I guess it’s time to pull out the cast iron bitch boss persona and raise a little hell.
*sigh*
