I had an amusing english teacher at High School. He had a loud voice and a pompous manner. He liked to peer at the more rebellious among us and proclaim quite stentoriously ‘shut up son or I’ll belt you!’ And back then, he did and they could. Under this man’s iron fisted rule I learned about certain poets and poetry. The only poem that I can still recite is Ozymandius:
‘I met a traveller from an antique land
Who said: “Two vast and trunkless legs of stone
Stand in the desert…’
The poet was that great pioneer of pop star literati poet loser Percy Shelley. He also wrote Ode to a Grecian Urn amongst other treasures. But Ozymandius has always fascinated me. A monumental king of kings > all gone, boom! Just a pile of dust.
Which brings me back to the blog. Control freaks. I kind of love them.
Just recently I was involved at a workplace. The minute I arrived and set up, a person was there, next to me.
Not to be at all sexist here, but it was a lady. A women. You know, the other sex.
She fixed me with her glaring gaze and started to let me know how things were done ‘around here.’ I nodded and smiled and occasionally muttered a phrase of complete understanding like ‘yeah sure.’ But I could see that she (who could have easily been a he) was lost somewhere. Maybe she was in the desert looking at the gigantic monument and trying to make out the visage. All I know is that she was on her own planet and i was only docking for a while.
Now, I’m experienced. I’ve been around the block a few times.
To be honest, I could have been a waiter at the last supper.
I’m skilled and reliable and people relate to me. When I teach they might not learn everything, but they have a good time, which makes for good learning. I use humour a lot to bring people back into the room and off their Iphones. It works for me. I get great feedback. All you have to do is tell me where and when, the topic/subject, any materials and leave me to it.
But this person, lets call them Ozzie had to control me. Why?
Well I thought about it later. What drives a control freak? Insecurity? A need for power? Recognition? Panic? Fear?
All of the above.
Control freaks should read some Shelley and start with Ozymandius.
‘I met a traveller from an antique land who said …’
Leave a Reply