It feels like a long time since I last posted anything here. To be more precise, it's already been 7 days and a few hours since my last post. It seems long because I've had a lot of things happen these past few days, and I just couldn't wait to Blog about it. As much as I would've wanted to share all of it right after it happened, I was unable to go online coz I couldn't find the time.
I wouldn't call it the "highlight" of my week, but it definitely was the most controversial & most stressful thing that ever happened to me. I'm proud to say that I had the resilience & forbearance to get a grip of my darker side.
As much as I would've wanted to bash someone's face in (and I could have, believe me!), I kept my cool & held back. The most extreme thing I did was to get on that person's face & bluntly told him off of his extremely arrogant, egotistic & obnoxious arse to the fullest extent of my voice!
Let me give you a not-so-brief history of why I had to get to that point.
Since Summer, I already had a group of friends from school. We were classmates & groupmates on all our classes. Since we had a class together this Semester that called for groupings, we were grouped together, save for one, who was clever enough to join another group. Unfortunately, I had to bear another Semester with the most obnoxious, invidious, abomidable, pompous loud-mouth in our group!!!
Without the agreement, or even the consent of the group, he proclaimed himself as the Group Head. We just let that pass since we knew that he needs to feed his over-sized ego. However, when it came to doing the Group Activities and papers for our class, he would have an ego trip & start bossing everyone around, to the point of threatening the members with expulsion from the group.
Last week, the injury I suffered during the Summer, the Muscle Spasms on my Neck & Shoulders, recurred & I could hardly get up from bed. I had to wear my Neck Brace, take my Muscle Relaxants & apply several medicated patches again, just to relieve the pain. I was in great inquietude.
After doing the Group's Initial Database & Second Level Assessment alone, using very limited information that the group gathered, I thought I can take a rest from the paper. Anyway, I spent 2 straight days scrunching my brain for words & information to place on the darned paper, scrambling for information on the format & trying to fill in the missing facts, so I think I deserved a break. But was I given that?!? Nooo...
Last Thursday morning, just as I woke up, I received a poorly constructed & grammatically deficient SMS from this Hitler of a person, demanding us to attend a Group Meeting that evening regarding our Initial Database & Second Level Assessment. Apparently, our Professor wanted us to add some more information based on the notes that he had provided.
I told him that I was sick, and though I will try to attend, I cannot commit my attendance. He cockily replied that "irregardless" of whether I am sick or not, I have to attend & stay until the whole thing is finished. I told him that I really cannot stay out very late since it will aggravate my condition & my Mom would not allow it, especially since the area where we'll be meeting is a depressed community. He, then, questioned why I had to follow my Mom's orders when I am already of age. He said we had to sacrifice and he would not even go to work the next day just to do the paper, and so would everyone else in the group. I told him that he & another member were the only 2 people who were working, anyways, so it wasn't a loss to the other members. He then, threatened to expel me from the group itself.
My blood pressure shot right up! I was infuriated! That little twit wanted to remove me from the group after I worked my arse off on the paper that just needed some tweaking! That was just not right. Uh-Uh... Dissing me like that will get you nowhere, and fast! I had to do something.
I sent an SMS to my Professor asking him if I can just work on my own. Anyway, I was already feeling very stagnant in the group. Being one of the very few in the group who can hold ground on their own (the twirp, not included), I know that I can function much better without him consistently harrassing us to do stuff, while he does nothing. My professor said we'd talk the next day (which never happened, by the way).
So, even though I was still not feeling better, I forced myself to go to school to meet the group. I had formulated questions to be asked to the Family we needed to re-interview so that I can get all the information we needed for the paper. Since I was still pretty much pissed off at that jerk, I barely spoke a word to him throughout.
When we finally got to the Site for the Interview, we started to ask questions, and I'd inject my questions as well. Imagine, to my bewilderment, infront of the Interviewee, he disses me by saying that I cannot ask my questions since he has a format! The gall!!! To think, when I read the questionnaire he was holding, it was still very incomplete! All the information he needed was already answered in the previous interview! Just so I wouldn't look like an uncivilized person infront of the Interviewee, I just kept silent, while my other groupmates started to calm me down.
After the interview, a couple of my groupmates & I started to vent out our annoyance & exasperation over the unprofessionalism of this impetuous prick. While he dragged one of my friends with him while he walked ahead of the group, we couldn't help but make sure that he hears how annoyed we were of him & the way he runs the group.
When we got to the Odeon Mall, just about a block from the Site, my friend said we all had to talk to get things over with. That's when I had to get ugly. I told him to his face that he is the reason why the group does not want to function. We are all sick & tired of his harrassments & threats, that we are not even afraid of getting booted out of the group anymore. And I told him flat out that he wasn't a big loss to the group if he left. Which was true! May lightning strike him if I was telling a lie! Hah!
To cut the story short, he left the group, to our delight. We just didn't show it, but we were more than happy! We wanted to celebrate! Good Riddance to Bad Rubbish!!! Really! Seriously.
Who wouldn't be happy?!? Imagine, he would have us meet every Sundays after class just to do the paper, but what does he do? He would pretend to be busy by cooking, talking on the phone for hours, going on the internet & checking on his emails & Friendster, or flirt with a guy from another group. Yet, he takes all the credit for the Group's work! The nerve! We skip going to Church, being with our families for this crap?!? Hah! To hell with him! Now, we can live in peace and harmony as a group.
I cannot begin to enumerate the new "Press Releases" he has been spreading about our group. He has never stopped bad-mouthing us to anybody who would listen, anyway, so, we just let him be.
And guess what?!? Although we had to start over with our Initial Database & Second Level Assessment from scratch, we were able to finish it in one sitting... Without HIM!! And the group had a lot of fun, too! We were having a blast doing our paper, that it did not seem like work. A far cry from what we were previously experiencing under the "tutelage" of this pompous jerk.
Now, I can say that I have a great group in school. We're all working hard & we are kicking some serious butts from here on out! Good luck to you, you egotistic schmuck! As you like to say, "I'll see you at the Board Exams!"