The inner war on arrogance.

[dewinged]

Okay, something today turned out to be one of those 'It may be egotistical, but I gotta tell you this' incidents.

So, Tuesday and Today, I was involved in a business writing class at work. Tues and Tuhrs, 9 AM-12 PM. I think it would have been better if both sessions were on the same day, and I said as much in my course evaluation questionnaire handed out at the end. That was my only quibble, because Tuesday kicked my ass.

Aaaanyway, here's what happened. In the class, the 9 of us taking it were split into 2 groups. It was me, woman in my department, and 3 others, and a person from my dept and 3 others on the other team. One, we had to come up with a team name, slogan, and logo. I can't even draw, but I ended up pulling all three out.

Now, over the course of the class, our teams were given points in small exercises, with the promise of some prize at the end. Personally, I would have been happy with the certificate saying I took the class and have skills, but hey, when in Rome. The course is about using clear concise language in a work environment for efficiency purposes, which I can totally get behind.

At the end of Day 1 (Tuesday) My team was behind the other team by 1/4 of a point.

Within five minutes of today's class session starting, we ended up 1/2 point ahead, because I remembered more of the topics we covered in the first class than the other team.

Over the course of the class, the grouo (4 women and me) ended up talking, and they were mentioning ordering online. I mentioned Amazon, and books, and Joy, who works in another department, turns to me.

Joy: Are you a nerd?
Me: Yes. And I'm really fricking good at it.

Now, towards the end of the class, we were...I think 3/4 of a point ahead, and this last exercise would decide it all, with a possible 5 points to be earned. And, unlike my suggestion, the last task was not 'fight to the death!' I swear, work would be more fun if they listened to me.

So, our instructor writes this on one of those giant paper easels they use for these things:

"Scintillate, scintillate, asteroid minific."

It's just a very verbose way of saying something else: Twinkle Twinkle Little Star.

The instructor had asked 'What's another word for Scintillate?' I said 'Twinkle,' because I knew the answer. I have the nagging little ability to see patterns, and a wicked-ass memory for things like this.

So, the exercise was each team would work on a list of 11 of these phrases, putting them into familiar terms. So it was a riddle, or puzzle. The kind of thing I do for fun.

Now, I didn't know them all. We got 9 of 11 right. But for the ones I did get right, I was saying them too fast for the rest of my team to write down. They would see a phrase like "All Articles that coruscate with resplendence are not truly auriferous." In 2 seconds, I spat out 'All that glitters is not gold.' Which caused them to either laugh or stare at me in growing horrow. But, I was too busy answering the next one to respond.

We got 3 1/2 points from that exercise. We ended up winning by like 4 points.

After the class, the Instructor had overheard our table, and she said she was shocked that I could pull out answers like that. They're riddles. This is...I see patterns.

But, before we parted ways, I murmured to Joy 'Toldya I was good at this.'

Oh, and I have a new company-logo uimbrella to show for it.

Good times, good times...

But man, I have had to physically fight not to be smug all day. I shall at least wait until I go home...

Comments

[gamerguy.livejournal.com]

It's not arrogance if you REALLY ARE smarter than other people :)