Adults Need Conferences

conferences for my students begin tomorrow morning, and as i was whining to jefe about how i had to be at school until 6 tomorrow (still so thrilled by the way), i began to wonder why adults don't get conferences too.

at some point in our lives, we got to the point where people don't need to be put in check anymore. i think it happens after college. sure, our bosses keep us in check with our work, but outside of that, who keeps us in check? us? please. being an adult, i know that there are times when i needed to put in my place. i know other adults that certainly need it as well. why do those stop?

there is no reason for anyone to just say "oh they are just crazy", or "oh they are just rude", or "oh they are just irresponsible". we should not accept all flaws, especially if they are hurting other people. so why not conferences? sit down with the people you care about and say "hey, theses are the things you are really good at and these are the things you need to work on", and then suck it up and take some constructive criticism yourself. how hard is that? is that what counseling is like? is that what so many people pay so much money for? to oversee a conference? why didnt i go into that instead?

the problem is that at some point, we get defensive. we have the sense that we can handle ourselves, that we know what we are like, that we wont change for anyone, this is who we are. well, what if who we are sucks, who is going to tell us that? who is going to think of having a structured setting to sit me down and tell me i am being an ass? as an aside of "hey, pass the salt, by the way, you are being an ass", i am more inclined to lash out. but if its structured, if i know some kind of criticism is coming, i am more likely to take it and work on it.

perhaps i should have become a therapist to be a grown-up conference creator and made much more money than i currently make now. but let's save a little bit of money and hash it out... if my middle schoolers can take it, adults can handle it too.