Saying No to Human Zoos



Is it easy for you to say "no"? Would you say "yes" to being the head of the parenting committee of your child's kindergarten group? I know I wouldn't. But Irina Krug did and shares her experience in this amusing but true-to-life and relatable post written in my "Write for Real: Blogging in English" course. 

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As an elderly Russian woman, I’m proud to have acquired a number of useful skills over my 38 years - ranging from making 3-ingredient sugar-free cookies to managing 50 teens at a Cambridge mock exam. One skill that I’m still working on though is saying “no”.

When I agreed to become the head of the parenting committee in my daughter’s kindergarten group, I had no clue what I was getting myself into. I thought I had grown enough thick skin throughout my teaching career not to be bothered by occasional rants and heated arguments, but - alas! - it was more than that.

Parents’ chats on social media are a zoo of their own: some crocodiles lurking in the depth snapping at you when your dare to suggest buying more paint for the renovation; some parakeets parroting away the ‘truths’ about municipal funding; some knowledgeable monkeys preaching what the teachers are supposed to do 7AM to 7PM; some snakes slithering from one side of the confrontation to another; some hyenas howling with joy when other animals share their ‘wisdoms’... There’s no constructiveness, no consideration, no positive outcome, especially when it comes to helping out on the playground or allocating our precious funds - an outrageous 1000 RUB per family for the whole academic year. The biggest problem is that all those animals wear their human skin when we meet in person and rarely voice their thoughts and concerns face-to-face.

My husband (who wisely chose to stay out of it at first) keeps losing patience when I share my frustration and worry. An avid hunter, he regularly threatens to go on a safari trip with his rifle and shoot each and every one of those hardly endangered species or at least make sure that most of them crawl back to their dens and remain silent.

I, however, bear the brunt and keep reminding myself: sometimes it’s important to just say ‘no’.

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The group chat of the apartment building where I live is very much like this zoo too, so I can totally relate. Can you?  

PS: Check out three more awesome posts written by my students in this course: 
- "At the risk of incurring the curse from polyglots and other magicians" - a post about the hardships of learnings three languages at the same time;
- "A finger-licking dinner dish. No unicorn tears required." - a recipe of a finger-licking dish out of broccoli or cauliflower told through the lens of the author's sweet personality.
- "Carrot, spinach and ginger juice, anyone?" - a post about the need (or the lack thereof) to "detox" our bodies. 

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