Fired Again!

I don't know if my tuition instincts are becoming more refined, or rather I have a dire self-fulfilling prophecy lingering over me.

I [used] to teach these 2 boys in AMK, and the most irritating thing about them was that they were forever late. Latest record: Late for 1 hour, while I loitered at their void deck, SMS-ing quet and juls complaining about them, and from time to time, calling their house to see if they were in. The best part of it all: I couldn't leave because I was supposed to get paid by them that day.

Fume.

Anyway, on that day, I had this strongest feeling that I won't be teaching the boys for a 2nd month. [yes, this was the first month] This strong, instinct-like feeling just kept bugging me again and again. Somemore, I would actually be rather relieved if they would fire me, because they were starting to make me rather late for my student after them. [Thurs' class, supposed to start at 3pm, became 4, then 430. After their lesson, I had just enough time to take a bus to the MRT, take the train down to my next student and walk briskly to his house, without time for dinner.]

Also, teaching the boys was becoming damn sianz..... They obviously couldn't be bothered with tuition lessons, they came late consistently, and they couldn't be bothered to do their homework. The times they came late, they claimed they were held up by school. Hello?? My lesson is at 5? What are you doing in school that late? [either that or I'm woefully oblivious to the hectic schedules of an average Sec 2 and 4 kid.] And anyway, if you couldn't make it at that timing for tuition, why did you tell the agency in the first place that you could be home at 3? [the original timing agreed on via agency]

The other irritating thing was when they were late, they couldn't be bothered to even send an SMS telling me how late they would be. This meant that I ended up waiting outside their house, for half an hour or even up to an hour like the last time. Eh, guys, this is basic courtesy lor. When you're late for an appointment, the polite thing to do, especially since it's your tuition teacher whom you're paying and are dependent on for your continuing progress in school, is to notify the person lor. I had this feeling that they just couldn't be bothered, and that's what irritated me the most about them.

So anyway, today was the last lesson. I went down and the younger boy said his mom said they didn't need tuition and they could do self-study on their own. Highly unlikely, by my account, but done is done. I took my pay from them and I left the house on the spot, suddenly faced with 2 hours free before dinner and the next student. Yay! [the little pleasures we take in retrenchments]

I expected this anyway. If I was her, why would I waste my money on a tutor who couldn't make my kids' timing? In fact, it's a waste of money to do so, because either my kids don't get taught, or I'd have to compensate the tutor for the times she came down and ended up waiting for an hour. It would be more worth my while to either hire another tutor, or just let my kids study themselves lor. So somewhere in my subconscious, I guess I expected this to happen to me all along.

The loss of the income is a sad thing, but fortunately while I was teaching the boys, i managed to pick up some new students, of whom I'd be starting this month. So thankfully my income didn't take such a large dent after all. [heng ah...]

What makes me happy is the thought of having my Thurs afternoons free again... Sigh... and not having to rush from one house to another without meals in between anymore. I can't believe I'm getting to the point where I'm sick of getting new students. If I already can't stand the loss of time from my already-pretty-free schedule, how the heck did all you guys take [or used to take] working 8 straight hours in a day?? I bow to you on that. Or maybe I just have too free a spirit.

Yea, yea, put a positive spin on things. Hee....