Yesterday, I had to go to a training which I really wanted to attend, and convinced the school district that they really wanted to send me and 19 other paras to this training (5 from high school, 5 from Jr. High, and then the remaining from the elementary level). It was a very specific training regarding mostly how to defuse situations before they happen, what to do in case of eruptions and then passive defensive techniques in case the para gets attacked. A while back, I asked the head of our security (who is a marital artist) if he could teach a class to the paras in verbal defusing and passive restraints and defense. He came back to me with a flyer and told me that this guy was the guy to learn that from. So when I heard that "Mike" and another trainer who happened to be a social worker, were doing this exact training, I said, whoa- let's get people in this.

Went to the Union, got their support, and then the Board of Ed and yada yada yada, we got the class. Hurrah! Even though it was being taught during our summer, there was huge interest- and eventually, it all got worked out and we got our attendees.

It was a great training. Humorous enough to hold our attention, great speakers, nothing too off the wall- none of this, let's sit in a circle, hold hands and waste an hour talking about who we are and why we want this training, etc. The guy took into account the difference between working with high school kids and elementary kids (which so seldom happens in our trainings) and was really great to listen to when he talked about how we as paras learn warning signs and then defusing them. Oh, it just was great overall- one of the few times I can actually say that I got a decent training seminar from the school district.

Except for this one woman. Throughout the entire seminar, this para kept saying "uh huh", "yup", "yes", "yup, that's what I do", "yup, you're right", etc. After the first hour of the six hour seminar, I was already getting tired of hearing her- and I wasn't even sitting close to her. By the second hour, I could see other paras moving away from her. By the third hour, she was standing near the front of the close, just agreeing with everything the instructor said. She announced that she was an EMT and that everything they had taught her was the same as he was teaching.

During our brief lunch break, we plotted her demise but decided that there were too many witnesses.

Of course, when it came to the physical parts of the class, she said that she could not participate because of health issues but watched and offered advice to others if they did some of their moves incorrectly. The trainer intervened and stated to please let him provide the corrections, and she actually responded to him, "well, I am only trying to help you so that the class moves along."

The Belgian tells me that in all his trainings, there is always someone like that- since I don't get sent to trainings very often, I guess I did not know this rule of group dynamics. But man, it was the most irritating thing that I have come across in a long time and although politeness stopped me, I really wanted to say "if you already know the training, then wtf are you doing here using the money that someone else could have benefitted from?"

Instead, I will just step on her toes the next time I see her and not apologize . . .