Tuesday, July 27, 2021


At the heart of much speculative fiction (and fiction in general) is a question. What if? On Tuesdays I like to throw one out there and see what you make of it. Do with it as you please. If a for-instance is not specified, feel free to interpret that instance as you wish. And if you find this becomes a novel-length answer, I'd appreciate a thank you in the acknowledgements.
😉

What if you requested assistance, but the person you asked just flat out refused to help you at all? (I'm not going to specify a situation, but assume that what you asked was reasonable, and the person you asked should have been able to assist.) 

Okay, so last week I had a student *cough* Vincent *cough* inform me that he wasn't going to do any of the reading I assigned, and when I inquired about how he was going to do the assignments without doing the reading, he said he'd Google the answers. Grrr.

13 comments:

  1. Context is important here. Is this something you cannot do alone, or something that would be easier if there's another person helping? Is the person I am asking a friend, a relative, a stranger? Someone who is employed to help?

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    1. Good questions, all. I did not specify, so you can choose those for-instances.

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  2. I'm not sure about the question of today, but as for Vincent, I'd find some tiny details in the reading for his assignment! You have to give it to Vincent, he's honest. If he Googles the answers and puts them in his own words, at least he's done some work!

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    1. This is true. I've given them questions that would require good Google skills. But alas, he hasn't even bothered to attempt those assignments.

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  3. In my life, there was such an incident, and the reaction of the person (a close relative) hurt - a lot. So yes, we do see each other now and again, but I don't seek out this person's company any more than I have to (mainly out of family obligation) and I'm fine with that.

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    1. Yes, it would be a blow, wouldn't it? I don't blame you for not wanting to deal with them.

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  4. There real jerk out there.
    Coffee is on and stay safe

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  5. I think we've all had someone refuse us help.

    Vincent's working hard not to do any work, don't you think?

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  6. I have had that happen and it really hurt. It involved visiting my mom and only for 20 minutes or so with her dog. The sad thing is she offered to do this before but when it Came time to actually come through, it didn’t happen. It would have truly cheered my mom up plus others in long term care. I have been there for her every time she needed help. The other kick is that she now brags how her dog is considered a service animal and they visit l9ng term care homes.

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    1. She offered and then refused? Yikes. That would hurt.

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  7. I would definitely be disappointed. But surely I will take in my stride. No option!

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  8. (Not an answer to the spec-fic question)
    Since I know you are reading HHGG, it would help him if he skipped that first page. The first time I tried it, I stopped after page one, too.
    But, I know he won't cooperate, so it's probably pointless to say so.

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    1. If I had read that comment before we started, I think I would have skipped to the second chapter (or first chapter, I think). But, alas, I wrote about the book after we had started it. If there ever is a next time...

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I appreciate your comments.

I respond to comments* via email, unless your profile email is not enabled. Then, I'll reply in the comment thread. Eventually. Probably.

*Exception: I do not respond to "what if?" comments, but I do read them all. Those questions are open to your interpretation, and I don't wish to limit your imagination by what I thought the question was supposed to be.