Foul and abusive language
Booked on to an ECDL course
I was eventually booked on to to an ECDL course for the first four weeks of November 2010, but wasn't happy about it as it occurred during my SAGE course, which had started in September 2010 and ran untul March 2011; it would have run until May had I passed Level 1. The SAGE course was a part-time course only requiring attendance on Wednesday evenings, but as far as I'm concerned, learning two different subjects on two different courses is different from other multi-tasking combinations. If I am learning, even on a part time basis, I can reflect on what I am learning at other times, perhaps doing further reseearch on the topic outside the course hours. Attending two courses disrupts all that and is therefore not conducive to my learning either topic effectively. I was also recovering from a bad illness when I was booked on the course at short notice and was still not well when I turned up for the course on the Monday. It did not help that the tutor claimed that I had turned up smelling of alcohol. Really, I'd forsaken my customary coffee at breakfast and had instead drunk a cup of hot Ribena instead. Does Ribena smell like alcohol? I don't know, but the tutor did not pursue the issue.
Computer tests and plenty of them
The first day seemed basically OK if somewhat tedious. I realized that some candidates had been sent on the wrong course and weren't ready for ECDL. A beginner's guide to computers was what they really needed and maybe that's what they ended up getting. Of the seven candidates who arrived on the Monday, I'm not sure if any of the others were ready for ECDL, but it was clear that I was the only level 2 candidate among us. It was therefore ironic that, at the start of the second day, I got booted off the course.
Booted off
Notice that nobody got booted off for being unsuitable, but I got booted off for foul and abusive language. Maybe my frustration boiled over a little, but in the general scheme of things, it really wasn't that serious. I saw many far more serious incidents in the office back in the days when I had jobs. However, employment rights don't apply to college students, so there is no disciplinary procedure. If they decide they don't want you there, you're out.
I was annoyed at being booted out, but I'd already seen that the ECDL examiners were going to mark things their way and that I wasn't necessarily going to get a certificate. Given that the tutor had started building his hopes on me, I think his decision to boot me out had as much to do with his realisation that I might not pass the exams despite my obvious ability to do the syllabus as to the actual bad word I'd said.
My punishment
In the immediate aftermath, I was primarily concerned about survival. In the event, I was sentenced to four weeks doing furniture assembly. Actually, this time around I did very little furniture assembly and instead, I spent most of the time sweeping the floor or the yard.
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