Saturday, June 21, 2008

Unconfuse me, please

Yesterday I heard an unusual excuse from a person who wanted to weasel out of a significant commitment to my department: "I thought I could do that," he said, "but I was confused."

If I'm dealing with someone capable of that level of confusion, I prefer to know it now while I can still do something about it rather than wait until it becomes a disaster, but still: what kind of mature, intelligent academic expects to be released from responsibility based on "I was confused"?

And what are the chances that I'll ever offer him a similar opportunity in the future? If he thinks he'll ever find work in my department, then he's really confused.

No comments: