Got the sticker!

[conuly]

The Nice Helpful Person was at the desk (the same one who let me go in without card or paying when I called ahead and explained the card was lost), and apparently the person who deals with these problems was in, so she got it fixed up while we were at the toddler program. That was simple.

And I am determined. Ana has a friend in the toddler program, a girl Barbara, I am determined to talk to her mom and exchange contact information because after the baby is born, I won't be coming to the toddler program with Ana, at least for a while, and the two really are good friends, as much as any two toddlers can be, so I'd like to keep in touch.

Now, I have a question. Say, in a completely and totally hypothetical situation (note the use of sarcastic italics to indicate that this situation is not at all hypothetical) the toddler programs are being run by a different person than they used to be run by. And before it was mostly unstructured play, with a bit of singing and stories and games (AND BUBBLES!) at the end, and now the person running it does less "structured" stuff at the end.

And you prefered the old system. Would you:

A. Keep quiet
B. Talk to your friends while in the program about how you "hate to complain" but the other person was better because she did *insert activity* and this person doesn't
C. Talk to the person running the program, say you hate to complain, and finish it from there?

Which option, to you, seems best?

Because I'm sure it isn't B, and yet that seems the prefered option. Not just in this situation, either, but this is the most recent time I've seen this.

Comments

[the-cynic.livejournal.com]

C. Talk to the person running the program, say you hate to complain, and finish it from there?

Talk to the person and express how much Ana enjoyed the previous structured method. Its important that you emphasize Ana, rather than yourself, because you assume the coordinator wants the program to be succesful fromn the toddlers' point of view. If that fails to elicit change, then you are justified in escalating to their boss, etc., as long as you are always keying on the toddlers' experience.

Option B is too much like gossiping, and Option A, from what I've seen of you (at least online) isn't really an option, is it?

[gingembre.livejournal.com]

My impression is more that she is hearing B from others in the program.

As for why B is such a popular choice, well, it's human nature to gossip about others, but it's harder for people to actually approach someone with a complaint (fear of confrontation, etc.) Plus, for whatever reason, people seem to avoid DOING something about problems more often than not. Perhaps we have a procrastination gene abundant in humans? Who knows. One of my favorite quotes seems appropriate here: "The difference between what we are doing and what we are capable of doing would solve most of the world's problems." --Mahatma Gandhi.

[gingembre.livejournal.com]

Oh, and the toddler emphasis is a GREAT idea!

[conuly]

What Jenn said - option B is what other people were doing. I wasn't there that much with the other person before she took her leave or whatever it is she did.

As for A - *laughs* In real life, I'm not quite as outspoken. At least, not to people I don't know well. Of course, the real me is more like the one you see here, not the one you see in Real Life, I think, but....

[gingembre.livejournal.com]

The "real you" is both - sometimes quite outspoken, but mostly only online, and actually rather shy in person. It is part of who you are. It kind of annoys me that you would think one aspect of you is more "real" than another.