1 post tagged “elian gonzalez”
If you remember the whole Elian Gonzalez fiasco, and certainly if you lived in Florida at the time, you'll remember Elian's cousin Marisleysis Gonzalez. After the utterly embarrassing raid that ended with a photograph of a government agent pointing a submachine gun at a screaming child, Marisleysis participated in a news conference in which she loudly and hysterically declared, "This the worst thing that has ever happened to me!"
Okay, wait. Really? You're 21 years old, and a cousin you'd never met until a few months ago has just been removed from your home and returned to his father, and that's the worst thing that's ever happened to you? Bad news, chickie: I bet it won't be the worst thing that will ever happen to you. Also, why is this about you?
It's almost finals week at the university, so every day brings a new Marisleysis Episode. This morning, I've got wall-to-wall histrionics, because a student is requesting an exemption to take his final exam early. Now in a small class, this probably wouldn't be a problem, but this is a freshman level course, involving multiple sections that all take the same final. Roughly 500 students will take this same final. Nobody gets to take it early. If you have a family emergency or a serious medical condition, you can make arrangements to take it later, but nobody takes it early.
What in the world could have happened that would cause a grown person to sit in my office and scream and cry for half an hour about the injustice of this rule? What horrible event will make it impossible for this young man to take his final with everyone else? A dead loved one? A cancer diagnosis? What?
His mom bought his plane ticket for next Monday. The first day of finals. Two days before this final. Because it was the only flight she could get him on. All of which is either bullshit or stupidity. None of which means that we'll let him take his final early.
Much earlier in the conversation, I told him the important thing, but I don't think he heard because he was too busy flipping out: Someday, there's gonna be something in your life that's important enough for you to be this upset about it. Something worth wailing and gnashing your teeth over. This is not it.
The only thing he finally heard was me saying, "No." Over and over. It's too bad. The other thing was much more useful. I'm gonna try to remember it for later, when the departmental move makes me want to scream and cry and rage against the injustice of it all.
