Don't Burn Bridges
Here’s some real life experience for you. I once walked into a lab and sat down. There was someone in there who was leaving and told me I had to leave too. I said I had a class in here in two minutes. He explained that I had to leave now because the policy was to lock the lab until the next TA or professor showed up. I said he was walking down the hall behind me. “That doesn’t matter, get out”. I said “OK” and then continued to type on my screen. “By the way, what was your name?” He replied. Then I said “Ok, my name’s Chris, it was nice to meet you.” And before things could explode, my professor walked in.
Later that year I needed a job. I found a listing for a TA position with grading papers and answering student questions. Perfect, I thought to myself. I love answering questions and having an aura of “Wow, he knows all the answers!”. I walk in to meet the same person I had met leaving the lab. Oops. Panic, small bit of silence. “Hi, I’m Chris” I said. “Hey! Heard you were interested in the job, have a seat.” Phew. Nothing was ever said about my “incident” and maybe he just didn’t remember. I took the job, graded papers, got many compliments from my new boss and life went on hunky-dory.
The lesson is (in case you forgot the title) to not burn bridges. I was very lucky. The stakes weren’t high, but I could have blown my chance at a job if my professor hadn’t walked in at that moment and prevented me from saying something really stupid. Suck it up and don’t make a habit of pissing people off. There are times to feel strongly about things and there are ways of making your point without being personal. You never know when you may meet them again. They might just have your kahones in their hands.
