>>Your brain weasels are squeaking. I am getting out my mallet.<<
I am aware of that. I just have to hear it from not-me. Also, mallet image is amusing, because of that game with the mallet and the pretend animals to smash.
>>So then you lay out the options, with the pros and cons of each. In that case your job is not to decide, but to enable your client to make an informed decision based on their site/budget/customers/whatever.<<
This is one of the few appealing things about consulting. Being able to be part of important stuff and a step removed from decisions would be nice.
>>Your creativity is fine on non-weasel days, I've seen it before. It will come back, or at least, it seems to have done so reliably in the past. You can also borrow other people's creativity if you wish.<<
I actually only a little bit meant my own creativity. I meant that people in general aren't applying themselves because they assume it can't be done. Which means I don't have to be #1 Most Creative, Inventive, Gifted, Genius Person Ever to do things properly. I also a little bit meant that I haven't come up with a good solution for the current problem at Camp yet. Of course, I did just decide this past month that I'm not just being a crazy self-centered person and this really does affect other people and I'm allowed to make a big fucking deal about it.
(if people are curious, I don't think I explained this, it's a 'thank-you bites' policy. For those unfamiliar, people are supposed to take 3 bites of any food they're refusing before they're allowed to ask for alternative food [we already have policies in place for handling pre-declared special diets and allergies. We're actually one of the best camps in the US, possibly the world, for dietary accommodations, even though that's not our demographic. Some kids come to us because of that, rather than because they fit our primary demographic.] The policy was made after a year when several kids were asking for alternative food at basically every meal, and that's super impractical for food budget and kitchen staff time reasons. And it sounds like a really reasonable policy. One could argue that because a lot of younger children are suspicious of new food they haven't seen before without good reason, it's good because, like, new things and not being a bother and stuff. But that's less important than teaching kids they don't have autonomy over what goes in their bodies. Consent, everybody, it's not just for sex anymore. Not that it ever was. More immediately problematic, for kids with texture issues or triggers around being forced to eat or eating disorders or what have you, it causes more immediate problems. If that had been policy when I was a camper, I wouldn't have come back. As it was, I just didn't eat properly if there wasn't enough food I deemed acceptable. If we always forced kids to eat with their cabin counselors, we could personalize things a bit more to avoid the more immediate problems, but we can't do that because the freedom to sit with friends for some meals is awesome and super important to the camper experience. And it doesn't solve the consent problem. Now, we could explain to kids that the kitchen doesn't really have time, and it causes problems, and are they really sure they can't eat the thing? But that feels uncomfortably like guilt-tripping. And we don't want it to be a standard action, because food budget and staff time. Kitchen staff are hard to find, and it's a super-intense job without a lot of room for extra work. We also can't let kids have extra food because the cabins are open-air and animals would get in. And also exclusive behavior and classism, but mostly the first thing.
>>Look back over your list of parameters.<<
I should do that properly. I have some of one, but I did it ages ago.
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dancing_serpent
Re: Thoughts
Date: 2015-07-08 10:06 am (UTC)I am aware of that. I just have to hear it from not-me. Also, mallet image is amusing, because of that game with the mallet and the pretend animals to smash.
>>So then you lay out the options, with the pros and cons of each. In that case your job is not to decide, but to enable your client to make an informed decision based on their site/budget/customers/whatever.<<
This is one of the few appealing things about consulting. Being able to be part of important stuff and a step removed from decisions would be nice.
>>Your creativity is fine on non-weasel days, I've seen it before. It will come back, or at least, it seems to have done so reliably in the past. You can also borrow other people's creativity if you wish.<<
I actually only a little bit meant my own creativity. I meant that people in general aren't applying themselves because they assume it can't be done. Which means I don't have to be #1 Most Creative, Inventive, Gifted, Genius Person Ever to do things properly. I also a little bit meant that I haven't come up with a good solution for the current problem at Camp yet. Of course, I did just decide this past month that I'm not just being a crazy self-centered person and this really does affect other people and I'm allowed to make a big fucking deal about it.
(if people are curious, I don't think I explained this, it's a 'thank-you bites' policy. For those unfamiliar, people are supposed to take 3 bites of any food they're refusing before they're allowed to ask for alternative food [we already have policies in place for handling pre-declared special diets and allergies. We're actually one of the best camps in the US, possibly the world, for dietary accommodations, even though that's not our demographic. Some kids come to us because of that, rather than because they fit our primary demographic.] The policy was made after a year when several kids were asking for alternative food at basically every meal, and that's super impractical for food budget and kitchen staff time reasons. And it sounds like a really reasonable policy. One could argue that because a lot of younger children are suspicious of new food they haven't seen before without good reason, it's good because, like, new things and not being a bother and stuff. But that's less important than teaching kids they don't have autonomy over what goes in their bodies. Consent, everybody, it's not just for sex anymore. Not that it ever was. More immediately problematic, for kids with texture issues or triggers around being forced to eat or eating disorders or what have you, it causes more immediate problems. If that had been policy when I was a camper, I wouldn't have come back. As it was, I just didn't eat properly if there wasn't enough food I deemed acceptable. If we always forced kids to eat with their cabin counselors, we could personalize things a bit more to avoid the more immediate problems, but we can't do that because the freedom to sit with friends for some meals is awesome and super important to the camper experience. And it doesn't solve the consent problem. Now, we could explain to kids that the kitchen doesn't really have time, and it causes problems, and are they really sure they can't eat the thing? But that feels uncomfortably like guilt-tripping. And we don't want it to be a standard action, because food budget and staff time. Kitchen staff are hard to find, and it's a super-intense job without a lot of room for extra work. We also can't let kids have extra food because the cabins are open-air and animals would get in. And also exclusive behavior and classism, but mostly the first thing.
>>Look back over your list of parameters.<<
I should do that properly. I have some of one, but I did it ages ago.