Self-described Snowboard Whore Fired

Mary Malmros wrote:
And what exactly was I advising? Avoiding generalizations about the
population of entire continents, was it? I don't see the connection
between that and making an observation about "a lot of parents who
bring their kids to ski school."

Oh, come on. You're making the same sort of mistaken generalizations
about those parents. I don't see the point in telling someone not to
make generalizations if you're about to write several paragraphs in
which you make the same mistake. Are you actually trying to say that
you only meant that one should not make generaliztions about a
contitent's population (but it's okay for any other group)?

Why am I even bothering, you women are all the same...

--
John Q. Sindell Jr.

http://jqs.pikapp.net

(yes, that was a joke)

Please don't generalize about "Americans". We're individuals over here
just like everyone else, no alien hive mind controlling us all. We
don't all agree. Some of the sentiments behind the generalizations are
definately common, but don't make the leap of assuming that's how we
all like it here.

I thought the article was pretty funny, and from the fake slang it's
pretty clear it was written as a mockery. Still, considering that she
used the name of her employeer in the article, I'm not surprised she
was fired, and I don't really fault the resort for booting her. They
could have their pick of thousands of quality instructors rabid to
live in aspen and get paid pennies, so why retain someone who's a PR
problem and most likely does have some of the negative attitude that
she affected for the article.

Baka Dasai wrote:

On Wed, 14 Jan 2004 11:11:09 -0500, Walt said (and I quote):
http://www.aspentimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20040101/COLUMN/31231017

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.

Anybody whose job requires them to deal with customers sooner or later
begins to despise those customers for being the stupid jerks and
hopeless losers that they are. Comes with the territory. You can't
tell thim this to their faces, of course, which is why waitstaff are
reputed to spit in the food.

--
Cheers,
Bev
...so few snipers, so many politicians...

Baka Dasai wrote:
On 15 Jan 2004 11:11:24 -0800, Jason Watkins said (and I quote):

...so why retain someone who's a PR
problem and most likely does have some of the negative attitude that
she affected for the article.


I'd say that the article would far be less likely to be seen as a "PR
problem" in any country other than the US. It might even be seen in
a positive light - showing people that the resort's instructors are
intelligent and have a sense of humour.

Absolutely - her getting fired says more about Aspen than about her -
hard to believe; I didn't think anyone could devise an episode more
calculated to ratify what toads the rich be, than this does.


I'm not saying that other countries do not have humourless,
self-obsessed people, but it does seem as though such people are far
more common in the US, as is evidenced by the sort of power they
wield in cases like this.

Wait-a-minute-now! I thought it was the French who were humourless.
Although I refuse to endulge in steortyping.

Baka Dasai writes:

On 15 Jan 2004 11:11:24 -0800, Jason Watkins said (and I quote):
Please don't generalize about "Americans".

I'm going to. It's just too much fun. And why not - it's a
generalization, you don't have to take it personally. Feel free to
generalize about Australians - I won't be offended, and I might even
agree with you.

Fine! You drink like animals, ski off roofs, and don't know how to
tip! Howzat? ;-)

...so why retain someone who's a PR
problem and most likely does have some of the negative attitude that
she affected for the article.

I'd say that the article would far be less likely to be seen as a "PR
problem" in any country other than the US.

Yeah, but here it would be. You can decide that it's evidence of
a ****ed-up society if you want, but here it wouldn't just be _seen_
as a PR problem, it would _be_ a PR problem. That is, it would cost
the resort business.

I'm not saying that other countries do not have humourless,
self-obsessed people, but it does seem as though such people are far
more common in the US, as is evidenced by the sort of power they
wield in cases like this.

How's this for a more accurate appraisal: every nation is just about
equally humorless and self-obsessed; it's just that they're
humorless and self-obsessed about _different things_. Your nation
is too. You just don't see that you are, or how you are, or about
what.

--
:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::: ::::::::::::::::::::::::
Mary Malmros
Some days you're the windshield,
Other days you're the bug.

"Dick Durbin" wrote in message
om...
"pigo" wrote in message
...
People here (US) are so politically correct it makes me sick. They're
for
free speech as long as it agrees with them. They're against pollution
unless
it's from a baby. They want to conserve recources as long as it's not a
recource they need or want.

I don't recall anyone saying she should not have the right to say what
she did. She should have realized that dissing her employer's
customers the way she did could have negative consequences. The
company is in business to make money. It hired her to help make money
for the investors. She did something that could reflect badly on the
company and may reduce revenues. Why should they continue to pay her?

Welcome to the Wonderful World of Grown-ups where you are responsible
for your actions.

I meant the people were saying that she shouldn't have said what she did. I
think what she wrote was probably true and I don't have a problem with her
writting it. I don't have a problem with her employer firing her either.

Now now everyone... just calm down. Is this really worth arguing about?

--Arvin

Mary Malmros wrote in message ...
Baka Dasai writes:

On 15 Jan 2004 11:11:24 -0800, Jason Watkins said (and I quote):
Please don't generalize about "Americans".

I'm going to. It's just too much fun. And why not - it's a
generalization, you don't have to take it personally. Feel free to
generalize about Australians - I won't be offended, and I might even
agree with you.

Fine! You drink like animals, ski off roofs, and don't know how to
tip! Howzat? ;-)

...so why retain someone who's a PR
problem and most likely does have some of the negative attitude that
she affected for the article.

I'd say that the article would far be less likely to be seen as a "PR
problem" in any country other than the US.

Yeah, but here it would be. You can decide that it's evidence of
a ****ed-up society if you want, but here it wouldn't just be _seen_
as a PR problem, it would _be_ a PR problem. That is, it would cost
the resort business.

I'm not saying that other countries do not have humourless,
self-obsessed people, but it does seem as though such people are far
more common in the US, as is evidenced by the sort of power they
wield in cases like this.

How's this for a more accurate appraisal: every nation is just about
equally humorless and self-obsessed; it's just that they're
humorless and self-obsessed about _different things_. Your nation
is too. You just don't see that you are, or how you are, or about
what.

"mark" wrote in message
nk.net...

"MoonMan"
Do you every watch "Satirical" Tv Programs or read satirical magazines?

just because you don't like it doesn't mean it's not funny and it didn't
seem very hostile to me, she was taking the micky out of herself as well
as
the pupils.

--
Chris *:-)

Downhill Good, Uphill BAD!

I don't watch much TV of any kind, although I do read satirical writing
from
time to time (boring, aren't I?). As another poster suggested, it's
entirely
possible that I, like a lot of Americans, just don't respond well to
satire.
Maybe this is a flaw in our national character, maybe not.

I remember quite well from my ski instructor days that quite a few
ski/snowboard school students (and their parents) are almost as difficult
to
deal with as the article showed them to be. At the same time, I remember a
few too many self-centered, egotistical "instructors" whose attitudes were
pretty close to those portrayed in the article.

First of all: snowboarding vs. skiing is a dead issue, and people in here
have to realize it. It sounds to me like this instructor's attitude is that
the kids in her class deserve to have a great time regardless of whether
they're stupid, fat, or both. If a kid is going to fall at "Mach 6 and
counting," as she puts it, she feels like she should cushion the impact.
Sounds exactly like someone I'd want with my fat stupid kids, if I had any.

I taught skiing full time the last two seasons and had the time of my life,
but it's a life of unstemmable fiscal hemorrhage (where I was, anyway -- but
I suspect living expenses more than make up for the tips in Aspen), your
employer treats you like ****, and you have some truly terrible days. That
this instructor said what she said cannot be considered a problem... that
**** is a tame 4:15pm in your average pro room.

The problem, if there is one, is where she said it. Satire isn't the issue;
whether she was writing as a persona isn't the issue. She's playing up the
fact that she's an Aspen instructor, so maybe she has to live with it. In a
perfect world, considering what they get paid, instructors should be free to
say whatever they want wherever they want -- and there are tons of real ski
towns where they can, thankfully.

But instructors are a dime a dozen everywhere, and, at least in Canada,
resorts have no idea how valuable great instructors are to the overall guest
experience. I have no idea whether this bird is or isn't a great instructor,
but I bet it wouldn't have mattered one way or another vis a vis her
dismissal. If she can sue the pants off Aspen I think she should go for it
and use the proceeds to live a life of teaching stupid fat kids how to
snowboard.

"The real reward comes at the end of the day when the kid from hell has a
really hot dad who loves me because his little monster actually likes
snowboard school. He thinks that has something to do with how way rad I am.
He has no idea it's the sport that his kid loves, or even being outside all
day surrounded by mountains so beautiful that even a comatose eighth-grader
can appreciate them," she says. Right ****ing on, says I. That's not
showboating -- that's humility. I've met instructors who could ruin a
chocolate sundae for an eight-year-old. Some of them were on two planks and
some of them were on one. All I can say is tip generously, and the good ones
will stick around.


Maybe that's why I had
trouble seeing a lot of humor in the article.
I still think that the writer would have found her students a lot easier
to
deal with had she put a little effort into improving her teaching skills.
--
mark

"mark" wrote in message
nk.net...

"MoonMan"
Do you every watch "Satirical" Tv Programs or read satirical magazines?

just because you don't like it doesn't mean it's not funny and it didn't
seem very hostile to me, she was taking the micky out of herself as well
as
the pupils.

--
Chris *:-)

Downhill Good, Uphill BAD!

I don't watch much TV of any kind, although I do read satirical writing
from
time to time (boring, aren't I?). As another poster suggested, it's
entirely
possible that I, like a lot of Americans, just don't respond well to
satire.
Maybe this is a flaw in our national character, maybe not.

I remember quite well from my ski instructor days that quite a few
ski/snowboard school students (and their parents) are almost as difficult
to
deal with as the article showed them to be. At the same time, I remember a
few too many self-centered, egotistical "instructors" whose attitudes were
pretty close to those portrayed in the article.

First of all: snowboarding vs. skiing is a dead issue, and people in here
have to realize it. It sounds to me like this instructor's attitude is that
the kids in her class deserve to have a great time regardless of whether
they're stupid, fat, or both. If a kid is going to fall at "Mach 6 and
counting," as she puts it, she feels like she should cushion the impact.
Sounds exactly like someone I'd want with my fat stupid kids, if I had any.

I taught skiing full time the last two seasons and had the time of my life,
but it's a life of unstemmable fiscal hemorrhage (where I was, anyway -- but
I suspect living expenses more than make up for the tips in Aspen), your
employer treats you like ****, and you have some truly terrible days. That
this instructor said what she said cannot be considered a problem... that
**** is a tame 4:15pm in your average pro room.

The problem, if there is one, is where she said it. Satire isn't the issue;
whether she was writing as a persona isn't the issue. She's playing up the
fact that she's an Aspen instructor, so maybe she has to live with it. In a
perfect world, considering what they get paid, instructors should be free to
say whatever they want wherever they want -- and there are tons of real ski
towns where they can, thankfully.

But instructors are a dime a dozen everywhere, and, at least in Canada,
resorts have no idea how valuable great instructors are to the overall guest
experience. I have no idea whether this bird is or isn't a great instructor,
but I bet it wouldn't have mattered one way or another vis a vis her
dismissal. If she can sue the pants off Aspen I think she should go for it
and use the proceeds to live a life of teaching stupid fat kids how to
snowboard.

"The real reward comes at the end of the day when the kid from hell has a
really hot dad who loves me because his little monster actually likes
snowboard school. He thinks that has something to do with how way rad I am.
He has no idea it's the sport that his kid loves, or even being outside all
day surrounded by mountains so beautiful that even a comatose eighth-grader
can appreciate them," she says. Right ****ing on, says I. That's not
showboating -- that's humility. I've met instructors who could ruin a
chocolate sundae for an eight-year-old. Some of them were on two planks and
some of them were on one. All I can say is tip generously, and the good ones
will stick around.


Maybe that's why I had
trouble seeing a lot of humor in the article.
I still think that the writer would have found her students a lot easier
to
deal with had she put a little effort into improving her teaching skills.
--
mark

"WeatherCam" wrote ...
I don't watch much TV of any kind, although I do read satirical writing
from
time to time (boring, aren't I?). As another poster suggested, it's
entirely
possible that I, like a lot of Americans, just don't respond well to
satire.
Maybe this is a flaw in our national character, maybe not.


Don't worry Mark, you've probably got some German ancestry in your blood -
all Europeans know they have no sense of humour too.....and this is
probably
the route of the problem for many US citizens......

Regards
WC

Great, Great Grandmother was a "Buerkler" in fact, had to change the name
in
1914 as they were getting harassed by the Brits in London - so ****e where
does that put me!!!


As a matter of fact, the Munich phone book has at least a page of people
with my last name, and maps of Austria (Salzburg/Pinzgau regions) show quite
a few place names that are variations of my last name.

And you're right, we Germanic types are a bit challenged in that department!
--
mark