performance (of common sense, and life in general) of each following generation (particularly males) can be written as a function of f(x) = -x^2 + c

so i did say at some point that i had more on the story of the lowerclassman.

so the previous sunday, i get an e-mail thus:

"I need to do this career research project for GT 1000, and part of it involves interviewing an upperclassman about their major. I'm technically supposed to do a face-to-face interview, but I have a lot of stuff to do for tomorrow, so sent these questions. If you would prefer to do a real interview, I don't really care. If you could just get back to me with your responses today that would be great. Thanks a ton"

a lot of things about this e-mail didn't make me happy.

1. he gives me a deadline of less than 24 hours (biggest thing that really ticked me off)
   
2. the phrase "if you would prefer to do a real interview, i don't really care." you know, honestly, that's not really for me to decide. and you probably shouldn't have disclosed it as such.
   
3. if you knew you were going to be this busy, honestly, what took you so long? especially if you knew you had to do some research, and you needed to arrange the time with someone?
4. the phrase "thanks very much, i'm really sorry for the inconvenience caused" would have been nice. at least polite.
   

i initially planned to completely ignore his e-mail, because i felt like it was completely irresponsible on his side, and i felt like i was being taken advantage of. he tried to chat to me a couple times, completely ignored it. i was pretty close to being a successful jerk (and ended up being only partial) after the better voices overcame the bitter demons.

so at 10 pm, as i'm about to head to bed, i get up, finish that stupid set of questions. this involved:

1. attempting to convert his file from .doc to .docx, after requesting from this kid to do it for me. all attempts virtually failed, and what should have been a 2 min operation turned into 30 minutes of waiting to convert.
2. writing responses with at least some detail and elaboraton, which took 30 mins.
3. writing the following angry e-mail, because honestly, i thought it was definitely something that he needd to learn:

"For future reference:
I would be more than happy to help you, but please respect the fact that I am extremely busy. Don't expect me to quickly respond to your e-mails, and please, for the love of God, don't leave things to the last minute like this, and give me a deadline of less than 24 hours. It's offensive, infuriating, and rude, and you'll either learn it the easy way or the hard way that pulling this kind of stunt will not put you in a good spot for your future.

I'm typically a nice person, but please, don't test me. I am an upperclassmen, I do deserve some respect at least. Please don't put anything off like this again if you need help from me."

granted, i might have been a little excessive, but i tried to filter out as best as i can the sheer and utter frustration i had. i was surprisingly pissed off about this whole thing, despite the fact that it should have been just a mild annoyance. honestly though, i know i was irresponsible as a freshman. but i'm pretty sure i knew what to say, and how to treat an upperclassmen.

it didn't get any better when he then responded, a day later, after i was late to work because i was doing this thing for him:

"Yeah, I know, Im really sorry about the whole thing. My Gt 1000 class is really disorganized and my instructor doesnt really give instructions about when things are assigned. I totally understand where you are coming from and being aggravated and busy, because I am busy too and this is the last thing I wanted to be doing. But once again, I am very appreciative of your help and will never do this again. It's good to have a contact in upperclassmen that I can give questions to. I apologize for the inconvenience, and have learned to never pull crap like this again."

i feel like he doesn't quite get it.

1. it's his fault. entirely. doesn't matter the disorganization of the gt1000 instructor, but all i really needed was a couple days' notice. all that i need.
2. i don't think he fully understand the meaning of busy.
3. "appreciative of your help." really? REALLY?

agh. freshman. why do you have to be an idiot?

and the more i think about it, the more i'm convinced that each year that graduates high school and goes off to college lack common sense and likelihood of surviving in the real word. and to think what older generation thinks of our own, imagine what they think about these kids.