I’m Not Impressed (So Far)

Last night was the first meeting of the class I’m in. It’s a full house, meaning that there are at least 35 people in the class. I didn’t actually do a head count, so there could possibly be more than that.

The instructor, an adjunct faculty member, is an unassuming sort of individual. He probably knows his stuff really well, and he did show the class a convenient way of breaking down a problem to solve it. But I get the distinct feeling that he’s somewhat disorganized.

It doesn’t help that lately I’ve been having a little bit of trouble with my hearing, and it is making catching everything that he’s saying a little bit difficult. I’m really hoping that the problem has to do with wax buildup. The only way to find out, however, is to have them looked at. And it isn’t the first time I’ve had trouble with my hearing; I went through a similar problem about 10 years ago, and it turned out to be a problem with wax.  So when I have time I’ll get it evaluated.

Tomorrow I’m working in Newton. It will be an interesting day because I have a new partner, an individual that rode with me for two weeks to get cleared. He’s a nice guy and he seems to have a good set of skills. But he’s new. That means I’ll have to train him the way I think he should be trained. Additionally, I’m going to have a senior third rider tomorrow. It is a female that I don’t know and have never heard of, and I don’t know where she came from. So I’ll have to observe her for a little while to get a feeling of both her work style and her personality.

It’s not the first time I’ve had to do this. The last time I had a senior person on my truck it was someone who has been a medic for much longer than I have – I’ve been an EMT for 18 years and a medic for a little over 7. He’s been a medic for 18 and an EMT for a little over 21 years. Needless to say, I didn’t think he needed to be precepted by the likes of me. In fact, I learned from him that day, and I’m not ashamed to admit that. We all can learn from those who’ve been around longer and those who have not. It all comes down to paying attention and to listen to what’s being said around you.

It’s not that hard. And I hope I can apply that in the Chemistry class.