Jobs - Part 2

I started at St Martin's / UoC in September 1995 and for the first few years, it was ok. I had my own course and my own students, so I could ignore the other science lecturers except Anne, who was always on my side anyway. There was one person in particular who made trouble - a lot. Like I would do everything by the book - book rooms, organise my timetable as well as I could etc. I would turn up at the room I was teaching in and he would have taken it over with his students. He could not be bothered to book rooms or check whether the room had been allocated = or so he said. I am not allowed to discuss what went on at UoC for 5 years. Anyway, just a couple of incidents which might give you an insight.

Some of you may remember there was a high profile case of football players attacking Asian students and causing serious injury to one of them. The cowards hit him after tripping him from behind and knocking him unconscious. This was a racist attack, not just a fight. Both footballers lied to the extent of their involvement and were basically cleared. This was a really disgusting miscarriage of justice. The student who was attacked basically became a recluse. Anyway, these two footballers were up and coming international players. Most people I spoke to were actually shocked by the attack and that the footballers had faced so little punishment.  I was sitting in our common room eating lunch and my "friend" was pontificating on how unfair it was that these footballers were not being allowed to play for England, they had been cleared, etc....... I couldn't believe this crap. I wonder if he even remembered the name of the Asian student who was attacked or what happened to him.

Those of you who believe Lee Bowyer is an innocent victim, read this conversation. There is a video (I assume it was from a security camera) showing him destroying a McDonald's Restaurant after he was served by a Bengali.  There is a comment that racists don't just attack people. I beg to differ. I wasn't even aware I was being attacked till I was knocked down by skinhead thugs. I was also attacked with a knife while I was walking down the street. Maybe I just provoked those attacks........

The second incident really is more of a series of incidents involving my room. It had a leak. Everytime it rained hard it leaked. I had 5 (?) major floods. the first one caused serious damage to my books. The second and third, I had all my books awauy from the area. The fourth one caused extensive damage as I had been assured after the third that there would be no more leaks. The Dean came into my room and said he would give me a £100 towards the books. What a laugh! The books cost hundreds  and the papers that were there - that was a lot of work, done over months. How about all that work? Anyway, they tried repaing it a fourth time. By that point, I was severely stressed. Work, my "friend", whiny students and the flooding...... So I complained - and was promptly put under disciplinary measures for not being able to cope! Anne had left by this point and the person who replaced her had her own difficulties. Anyway, I got through that, no thanks to my effing Union. I was trying to get the manager to give me another room because I knew they wouldn't sort it. I said to him "Please move me to another room. You can sort this one out when I have moved. You have spare rooms." his response was, "We are allocating those rooms. We cannot put anyone in your room till it's sorted."!!!!! I wrote back "So it's ok for me but nobody else?" I wanted to write "Everybody else is too white, are they?" Anyway, within a few weeks, there was a major storm and I ended up with an inch of water in my room. So I dragged the Dean in, in front of witnesses, and said "Do something now!" I got moved that week. They did work on my old room after I moved. It hadn't leaked 3 years later. I don't believe this was an organisation just being inefficient. Once or twice is ok but FIVE times? And that comment by the manager just says it all.

Jobs - Part One

I am finding it difficult to get a job. I don't know what's going on. I can make a good guess though>

I always seem to have had problems getting a job.No problems with studying really, all seemed to go smoothly. There were one or two things I wasn't sure about. Like one of the teachers at my first secondary school did not want me to do German because he thought I would have difficulty pronouncing German. Not quite sure what he based that on. There was another couple of minor incidents. I was at the top of my form in the school in London and transferred to Hastings and was put in the second set. Within a few weeks it was fairly obvious that I was in the wrong set; even the other kids knew it. Another boy who arrived after me, with a similar background, went straight into the top set. I am not sure why the difference. (He did worse than me at O Levels, in case you are wondering). Also, the high achieving pupils were always pushed to do Oxbridge. Again, I wasn't. Not that I necessarily wanted it, but......... Imperial was the best at Chemistry at the time, pretty close run thing with Cambridge then.

I applied probably for 12 - 15 jobs after my Ph D. No interviews except one. The only ones who did an aptitude test after the application - BT. They even offered me a job - as a stock controller! Lol. I wasn't interested. Might be a millionaire by now, if I had taken it.

When I was applying for jobs as a teacher, most of my friends got jobs after the 3 or 4 applications. Even a friend with a Ph. D got one after 6. I applied for 20+ jobs. I am not that bad at interviews or writing application forms. When I wanted to move on, I applied to 60+ jobs. I had 15 - 20 interviews. No job offers in school. A few were ok, because there was a better candidate. Some of the excuses were ridiculous. what do you say when someone says "You are too quiet" when you have been as chatty and extrovert as the other candidates. "Do you mean I am too Asian? Why the fuck did you invite me for an interview?" I did take one school to tribunal. They were forced to apologise and had to give an undertaking to change their system. One of the pupils in the school wrote something racist and had to apologise. At the end of the day, the school said I was the best candidate but they wanted to talk to my Head, who then said something non-committal. They didn't give me the job but said they were going to re-organise an interview and ask me to attend again. They didn't and said they had not given any such undertaking. I went to the Head's house and meet her with the Head of Science for feedback, a fortnight after the initial interview, when they said they would call me back so..........

I got the job at St Martin's  but Anne Riggs was the HoD. The other candidates were not good, a couple had a blow out. One of them was wanted by the PGCE Course Leader but didn't perform on the day and Anne was in my corner. :) I think I should smile, even after all that happened. I loved working with the students and the schools. Most of the staff were ok - I think! Especially the support staff.

A Hero

I saw this on Facebook and was amazed at this man's bravery. He ran towards the site of the bomb explosion to help people. There's a picture of him pinching someone's femoral artery - a guy who had his legs blown off.

Carlos - post on Facebook

Cowboy hat wearing hero

Unfortunately, some of the people commenting used the opportunity to turn it into a discussion about illegal immigration, instead of celebrating his heroism. By the way, Carlos is a citizen, who migrated legally from Costa Rica. How stupid can you get? When Carlos acted he did not ask whether the person was an American or not. The people, who received his help - do you think they should have refused in case he was an illegal immigrant? All that matters is his selflessness and humanity.Unfortunately, it not just some white Americans who are like this. There are plenty of other assholes in other countries and of different complexions who are that stupid.

An example of selflessness from the past towards one's "enemies"

*****.......Bhai Kanhaiya was often seen carrying a mashak (a sort of pouch made of goat's skin that was used to carry water from one place to another), to serve water to anyone who was thirsty. He took upon the task of quenching the thirst of the wounded soldiers in the battle of Anandpur Sahib in 1704. He did this sewa with love and affection without any discrimination between the Guru's Sikh soldiers and the Mughal armies' soldiers. His act of compassion stirred up stern criticism amongst his fellow Sikhs, who complained to Guru Gobind Singh Ji, pointing out that Bhai Kanhaiya Ji was serving water to the wounded soldiers from the enemy camp. They were especially annoyed because the Mughals had surrounded the city and stopped all their food supplies, and here was Bhai Kanhaiya sharing with them what little water they had. They had tried to stop him many a time, but he would not pay any heed. Guru Gobind Singh summoned Bhai Kanhaiya and explained that he had received a complaint about his actions on the battlefield.

Guruji said, “These brave Sikhs are saying that you go and feed water to the enemy and they recover to fight them again – Is this true?”

Bhai Kanhaiya Ji replied "Yes, my Guru, what they say is true. But Maharaj, I saw no Mughal or Sikh on the battlefield. I only saw human beings. And, ... Guru Ji, .. they all have the same God’s Spirit? – Guru Ji, have you not taught us to treat all God's people as the same?"

The Guru was very pleased with the reply. Bhai Kanhaiya Ji had understood the deep message of Gurbani correctly. Guru ji smiled and blessed Bhai Kanhaiya. Guru Ji said, "Bhai Kanhaiya Ji, You are right. You have understood the true message of Gurbani". He then continued and told the Sikhs that Bhai Kanhaiya had understood the deeper message of the Gurus' teachings correctly and that they all have to strive to learn lessons from the priceless words of Gurbani.

Guru also gave Bhai Kanhaiya Ji medical Balm and said “From now on, You should also put this balm on the wounds of all who need it” *****