Self-described Snowboard Whore Fired
Courtesy of Rogers Cadenhead's Cruel Site of the Day www.cruel.com http://www.aspentimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20040101/COLUMN/31231017 http://www.thedenverchannel.com/news/2754374/detail.html ASPEN, Colo. -- An Aspen Times columnist has been fired from her job as a snowboard instructor at Snowmass after mocking her students and their parents in a recent column. In her Jan. 1 column, Alison Berkley described one student as a "fat retarded kid" and "whale boy," and said students' "ultrawealthy" parents "think I'm a miracle worker because their brain-dead kid actually got excited about something besides video games for the first time since the day she turned 13." -- //-Walt // // http://www.bushtax.com/ |
Self-described Snowboard Whore Fired
Walt wrote in
: Courtesy of Rogers Cadenhead's Cruel Site of the Day www.cruel.com http://www.aspentimes.com/apps/pbcs....40101/COLUMN/3 1231017 http://www.thedenverchannel.com/news/2754374/detail.html ASPEN, Colo. -- An Aspen Times columnist has been fired from her job as a snowboard instructor at Snowmass after mocking her students and their parents in a recent column. In her Jan. 1 column, Alison Berkley described one student as a "fat retarded kid" and "whale boy," and said students' "ultrawealthy" parents "think I'm a miracle worker because their brain-dead kid actually got excited about something besides video games for the first time since the day she turned 13." Just read her comments from the aspentimes link. Her attitude reinforces the the negative snowboarder stereotype. She probably should never have been teaching if she really did talk to/about her students that way. If she were teaching my kids and spoke to them the way she brags about in the article, I'd have reported her to the management at the very least. -- Chuck Remove "_nospam" to reply by email |
Self-described Snowboard Whore Fired
In her sort-of defense, she was obviously writing as a "character" in the
the column. How fictional the character was, I can't say. On the other hand, it's pretty stupid to write things like that (whether or not in character) under your own name if you have an interest in keeping your instructor job. Which suggests that either shed didn't have much interest in keeping her job, or that she's pretty stupid. I suspect it was the former. |
Self-described Snowboard Whore Fired
"Walt" wrote... Courtesy of Rogers Cadenhead's Cruel Site of the Day www.cruel.com ASPEN, Colo. -- An Aspen Times columnist has been fired from her job as a snowboard instructor at Snowmass after mocking her students and their parents in a recent column. In her Jan. 1 column, Alison Berkley described one student as a "fat retarded kid" and "whale boy," and said students' "ultrawealthy" parents "think I'm a miracle worker because their brain-dead kid actually got excited about something besides video games for the first time since the day she turned 13." -- //-Walt // // http://www.bushtax.com/ Maybe if she were a better instructor her students wouldn't flounder so much? The tone of the column suggests that she was not a first year instructor. I have to wonder why the ski/snowboard school hired her back after her first season? -- mark |
Self-described Snowboard Whore Fired
"sjjohnston" wrote ... In her sort-of defense, she was obviously writing as a "character" in the the column. How fictional the character was, I can't say. On the other hand, it's pretty stupid to write things like that (whether or not in character) under your own name if you have an interest in keeping your instructor job. Which suggests that either shed didn't have much interest in keeping her job, or that she's pretty stupid. I suspect it was the former. She may have been writing as a character, but nonetheless I sensed a great deal of hostility toward her students. The woman struck me as a self centered, spoiled brat, no better than the worst of the students she depicted. -- mark |
Self-described Snowboard Whore Fired
That article would have been funnier if it was published on April 1, and not
Jan. 1 (peak tourist season). I'm sure most found it offensive as well as pointless. The editor should be fired for running the piece as it stands. "mark" wrote in message ink.net... "Walt" wrote... Courtesy of Rogers Cadenhead's Cruel Site of the Day www.cruel.com ASPEN, Colo. -- An Aspen Times columnist has been fired from her job as a snowboard instructor at Snowmass after mocking her students and their parents in a recent column. In her Jan. 1 column, Alison Berkley described one student as a "fat retarded kid" and "whale boy," and said students' "ultrawealthy" parents "think I'm a miracle worker because their brain-dead kid actually got excited about something besides video games for the first time since the day she turned 13." -- //-Walt // // http://www.bushtax.com/ Maybe if she were a better instructor her students wouldn't flounder so much? The tone of the column suggests that she was not a first year instructor. I have to wonder why the ski/snowboard school hired her back after her first season? -- mark |
Self-described Snowboard Whore Fired (SATIRE!)
Chuck wrote in message . 4...
http://www.aspentimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20040101/COLUMN/31231017 http://www.thedenverchannel.com/news/2754374/detail.html ASPEN, Colo. -- An Aspen Times columnist has been fired from her job as a snowboard instructor at Snowmass after mocking her students and their parents in a recent column. In her Jan. 1 column, Alison Berkley described one student as a "fat retarded kid" and "whale boy," and said students' "ultrawealthy" parents "think I'm a miracle worker because their brain-dead kid actually got excited about something besides video games for the first time since the day she turned 13." Just read her comments from the aspentimes link. Her attitude reinforces the the negative snowboarder stereotype. She probably should never have been teaching if she really did talk to/about her students that way. If she were teaching my kids and spoke to them the way she brags about in the article, I'd have reported her to the management at the very least. satire - noun 1 : a literary work holding up human vices and follies to ridicule or scorn 2 : trenchant wit, irony, or sarcasm used to expose and discredit vice or folly Did anyone bother to read her OTHER articles? If you did I think you would see a trend. In one, she says she would like to be a trophy wife who does nothing but attend to her husband (in return for material possessions and financial backing). It's pretty obvious that she is be subversive in her article... ok may not *obvious* since a lot of people don't realize she is not seriously in what she's saying, she is actually condeming this mindset by "satirizing" it... kind of like Gulliver Travel's... ok, I guess not everyone realizes that's a satire (check out http://www.godsoframen.com/lisa/gulliver.html). Errr... George Orwell, like 1984 or Animal Farm... right? I apologize for my poor memory as it's been a while since high school English. I think people are showing a knee jerk reaction to what upon a quick glance appears to be an inflammatory article. However, if you actually look more closely, you see that it is very careful in it's use of slang such as "I don't gots to" and other such terms since the article overall has proper punctuation, spelling and grammar. So either she is a well-educated sk8ter girl that has an editor to proofread, or she is doing this intentionally and if you actually read some of her articles before passing judgment you would realize no one could possibly be this outrageous. So anyways... I don't think she should have been fired, but I can see how a company afraid to stand behind a low-level employee would not want to support her, even thought she isn't in the wrong because they get bad "incorrect" press and that's bad for them. It's just like how some companies fire whistlerblowers because they make too much noise and attract unwanted bad publicity (even though it's for the common good). I'm not saying that EVERY person and EVERY companies is like this, just that it happens sometimes. --Arvin |
Self-described Snowboard Whore Fired
sjjohnston wrote:
In her sort-of defense, she was obviously writing as a "character" in the the column. How fictional the character was, I can't say. On the other hand, it's pretty stupid to write things like that (whether or not in character) under your own name if you have an interest in keeping your instructor job. Which suggests that either shed didn't have much interest in keeping her job, or that she's pretty stupid. I suspect it was the former. If she was in this country, UK, I suspect she would have a very good case for unfair dismissal. I don't see how writing a satirical article could be grounds for dismissal unless there was a specific clause in her contract. However as US employment law is very different I would have thought she should have shown the ski school managment the article before submitting it. -- Chris *:-) Downhill Good, Uphill BAD! www.suffolkvikings.org.uk |
Self-described Snowboard Whore Fired
"MoonMan" wrote in message
If she was in this country, UK, I suspect she would have a very good case for unfair dismissal. Very true, but if she was in the UK she woulndn't have been fired anyway, for god's sake, she's only taking the **** out of herself. Hopefully another ski school will employ her on the strength of that article alone, I certainly would. Lifes too short. -- David Brown :o) http://kitemap.co.uk/stack |
Self-described Snowboard Whore Fired
I agree.
Top posted because of your signature :) Chris *:-) Baka Dasai wrote: On Wed, 14 Jan 2004 11:11:09 -0500, Walt said (and I quote): http://www.aspentimes.com/apps/pbcs..../COLUMN/312310 17 http://www.thedenverchannel.com/news/2754374/detail.html I'm having trouble understanding other posters negative reaction to the instructor's original article. It's a naive fantasy to expect that everybody loves their job all the time, and that students are always bundles of fun. It's just an instructor having bitching about her students. Doesn't everybody bitch about their jobs now and then? I'm speaking as a parent who puts my child in ski school, and I'd have no qualms about having her taught by the writer of the article. She sounds like she's got a pretty healthy attitude if you ask me. |
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