No Perfectionists Please

So today was Celebration part 1. Because we lost a day this week to the typhoon, we spent today at school, including the students, to prepare for Celebration. It ended up being a day that lasted from 8am to 8:30pm. It was crazy. We worked with the students to prep them for tomorrow's real Celebration (and we will have another run-through with them tomorrow). Then we worked on decoration, which is usually not the best day for me. I mean, come on. It requires both manual and artistic labor, two things I don't do well. But I toughed it out for eight hours. Mind you I slept through breakfast and I'll I got for lunch was one slice of pizza (apparently pineapple is the most popular HK topping). Not to mention the fact I kinda overdosed on cough syrup (I took a swig because I didn't have a teaspoon).

So it was a long day, and it made me realize how I've grown to really expect and appreciate efficiency. I have been running into issues with inefficient systems all summer long. But today, all the waiting for things to happen really got to me. And because Shirley basically required me to stay the whole time, even when I could tell I wasn't needed any longer, there was a lot of waiting.

BUT! The point of the story is that there are a number of perfectionists on the staff (and admin) and it really drives me crazy. I mean it is great to care, but at some point let's just move on and get other things done so we can go home before midnight. I guess I am not a perfectionist, so it is hard for me to understand. I mean, my life is by no means perfect and neither has been my work. Still, it has generally been good and I'm happy with it. I expect imperfection. I do. Maybe I'm jaded because I'm a teacher. I know that there is no perfect lesson or perfect day, but that doesn't keep them from being good or effective. And those imperfections give you something to learn from. I don't think perfectionists can last long in teaching.

I mean how stressful to be striving for perfection. Example: This group of teachers spent all day to first blow up hundreds of white and pink balloons, then string them together to create a "balloon banner" for lack of a better description. It definitely looks cool, BUT it could be wonderful even without it and maybe there are better ways to spend five hours. Then, once it was put together, there were issues with the hanging. Then balloons started popping off leaving the dreaded gaps that annoyed all the perfectionists of the group. Finally we managed to string it and tie it up at an appropriate level, avoiding any balloonless gaps and it looked good. BUT there was this one chunk of balloons were one seemed to stick out too awkwardly and that drove some people crazy. Crazy enough to untie the strings, bring down the balloons, fix the awkward balloon, notice that there were actually some gaps after all, and fix those too. Finally we strung it back up and retied it, only to go through much the same with two big torches hung in front of the proscenium curtains of the stage.

I don't know. I just hope I don't have to work with too many perfectionists in my life. Maybe I'm lazy, but I don't think so. I think I'm just healthier. =)