Cliques

nurseprnRN, BSN, RN · Jun 8, 2012

@snmezelle:

ahem. in greek mythology, the pierian spring was considered to be the source of knowledge, sacred to the muses (who, as you remember, are the inspiration for their individual areas of expertise-- there's a muse for music, one for art, for everything...).

the lines from pope say, basically, that if you drink just a little from the spring, then you will have only a little knowledge, and this can be dangerous because you are not fully informed, so you should either drink deeply or not at all.

unlike alcohol, when you drink from the fount of knowledge, you get into more trouble with small amounts than with large ones. ("shallow draughts intoxicate the brain") but "drinking largely sobers us" if we're partaking there.

this small quotation (part of a much longer work) also has that neat balance to the contrasts in it-- little-shallow, deep-largely, and i like that.

last, i like to quote it entire because so many people give the first line as if it meant a little knowledge is dangerous, so more knowledge is more dangerous, and that is exactly the opposite of both the intention and the derivation.

hope that helps. it's one of my favorite bits and appears in the beginning of bradbury's fahrenheit 451, too. (rip, ray.)

rubato, ASN, RN · Jun 8, 2012

Elle,

I am an older student also. I get the whole cocky thing too. I am not cocky. I just know who I am. Anyone who doesn't at 42 needs some work! ;)The 19 year olds are all intimidated by me which is silly because I love people and would love to help them out if they needed it.

I do not, however, put up with crap. In my A & P class, one of the students was complaining very loudly and obnoxiously about the professor. "He's horrible. He doesn't tell you things that are on the test. I hate him. He's the worst professor ever!" I then explained to her (very nicely because we were just having a conversation) that I really liked him and loved the way he taught. She turned away from me and started making fun of me to everyone else in the conversation. It was so juvenile and silly. She made fun of me and treated me like crap the rest of the semester. I got an A, she flunked out. Who's laughing now?

Don't worry about the others, just yourself. Kick some booty and become a nurse!

snmzelle · Jun 8, 2012

Ohhh, thank you Grn Tea, very enlightening. It says a lot about who you are, a wise person who thinks before they speak. Am I right? Huh, huh? yea? I couldn't have chosen a better quote myself. Ok, here's my favorite: Life isn't about waiting for the storm to pass; it's about learning how to dance in the rain.

Elle

snmzelle · Jun 8, 2012

OMG Rubato, do you have the same class as me or what! I can not believe when I read your post, this is the exact same scenario I ran up against, EXACT! I defended a teacher and they got so angry! I can't say they treated me like dirt after that b/c they were already treating me like dirt before that. But yeah, I think some of these young students are a new breed. I mean, they had to have at least seen older people on tv right? Why do they act like we're aliens. Like, where are they from? I remember when I was young, most of my friends were older and we actually enjoyed hanging out with our friend's parents. We'd all sit around the table and eat meatballs and pasta and listen to their stories. Well, you offered good advice, kick some booty and become a nurse; and that I will! Love your post! Thanks, really, nice to know I'm not the only one.

Elle

Stephalump · Jun 8, 2012

Rubato, I went through the SAME thing in Mciro! This horrible woman (in her 40s, not a yougen) sat at my table and spent the entire time making terrible comments about our professor and almost every other student in the class, and finally I had enough! She was, no lie, sitting in class making a list of everyone she liked and didn't like in the class. She knew NONE of them. Our table of 4 was also our lab group, so the other 26 people in the class were almost compete strangers after 16 weeks. When I pointed that and her negative attitude about the class out, she proceeded to treat me like absolute crap for the rest of the semester.

I admit...the professor was terrible. So file a complaint with the dean and WORK HARDER. I don't need to hear your terrible attitude for four hours a day, and I definitely have no desire to hear people mocking other people!

The was the first time I'd ever had any sort of school interpersonal problems, and I gotta say...I did not enjoy it.

snmzelle · Jun 8, 2012

LOL! I kinda enjoy some of it too. hee hee.

snmzelle · Jun 8, 2012

It's so easy to get them all mad, I know it's wrong. Not funny. ok.

allnurses Guide · Jun 8, 2012

I think if you look for it, you are going to find it. Whether that's people to get along with or people not to get along with.

snmzelle · Jun 8, 2012

so you're saying that when people are rude to certain person, certain person deserved it b/c they looked for it? Might be a little more too it than that, but thanks for you input, interesting perspective.

I love my cat! · Jun 8, 2012

I have found that cliques in large hospitals are almost impossible to avoid. Where I work there are three types:

-Unit cliques

-Racial cliques

-Shift cliques

My advice is to never reveal too much personal information. This will always be used against you in some form....trust me. I never really hangout with co-workers. I just try to let things roll of my back and if things do get difficult with an individual, I always try to talk with that person first, privately.

Good luck!

snmzelle · Jun 8, 2012

AHH, interesting, yes, we have the racial cliques too in school, the Nigerians and then the x-cheerleaders in another clique and then the Hispanics in another. The Haitians and the Jamaicans actually form their own cliques too which is cool as long as everyone is nice. Then, there are the stragglers, they don't clique up w/anyone, just stay to themselves but are always diplomatic. Then there's me, the straggler and a bit of a ball buster but in a nice way. Believe it or not, I'm soaking in all your input like a sponge, Learning how to get along with others in a hospital setting is advice I really will benefit from.

thank you,

Elle

wooh, BSN, RN · Jun 9, 2012

so you're saying that when people are rude to certain person, certain person deserved it b/c they looked for it? Might be a little more too it than that, but thanks for you input, interesting perspective.

No, but if you're looking for it, any borderline comment is going to be interpreted badly whether it was meant that way.

But actually, if you're looking for everyone to be mean and hateful and cliqueish, it's likely that you will be putting off an attitude that will attract that kind of behavior. So maybe not deserve it, but it IS what you'll get.