An A Student And A Bad Worker

 

Microbiology prep lab room at SUNY Potsdam.

 

This wasn't my first job. But it was my first lesson that a person can be an A student and a bad worker.

I was in my junior year of university. I was a work-study Microbiology Lab Assistant, limited to five hours a week. Because I was a transfer student, I was 1 year ahead of other students and trained in aseptic technique, material preparation, chemical handling, etc.

I knew to wash your hands and don't touch stuff.

I was also taking Cellular Physiology with Dr. Pei Juo. His class was very hard. And if you got an answer wrong in class, he's throw chalk at you. I won't disclose if he threw chalk at me but I sat in the back and ducked. He could not pronounce my name; he would call me "ah-ther". But a classmate, I forget her name so I'll call her Lisa, was pulling As in the same class. How was it so easy for her? 

Lisa also had a job working for Dr. Juo down the hall from the Microbiology lab.

One day, I was still finishing up one of my five weekly hours and Lisa, with backpack, came down the hall past the doorway and stopped for a moment with a glint of gloat that she was sailing out of the building.

Then I heard her name called down the hallway. Loudly. Repeatedly. 

Lisa rolled her eyes, sighed, and looked back up the hallway.

Dr. Juo yelled "You're not done yet!" 

"I finished my work" she wined.

"You left dirty dishes!" he protested.

"They are not mine. I didn't dirty them." she said succinctly.

I made a face like when a friend gets in trouble but, you kinda sorta knew that they totally deserved it.  Like big eyes and a mouth that say "oh well!" and I looked back at my work.

"Your job is to clean the lab. Those dishes ARE your job. Get back here!" He was surface-of-the-sun hot. If he had chalk, he would have been throwing it.

She sighed and reluctantly walked up the hall. It was the walking version of dragging her feet.

I hear the clank of dishes being washed and put up to dry.  She finished and left. She didn't stop at my lab door this time. Then I had to leave. My work was done AND my hour was done. So I put on my backpack and slipped away.

But the lesson was learned by me. 

Lisa was an A student and a bad worker; a person could be both. Before her, I didn't know that was possible probably because As took hard work from me.

That lesson always stuck with me and when it came time for me to be the boss and hire people, I always looked for teachers that didn't strike me fully as "A" students. I needed teachers who had pulled some Bs or a few "C"s. That's because of Lisa; I'm wary of straight A students. They can get good grades and suck at being good workers.