Really? Did that just happen?
If you're looking for a happy, touchy-feely, good times post, you'd do yourself a favor and find a different blog to check out. Still interested?
Part of my job requires me to be a Notary Public. For some reason I had not been able to get my North Carolina Notary since moving down here, but last month my boss asked me to follow through on that. The process is a little more complicated here than in Ohio, including a day-long class at a local community college. Today was the day I took the class.
Before I start complaining, let me say it has to be difficult to facilitate a class as boring as Notary Public. The legalize language alone is mind-numbing to read and study so I can only imagine how hard it would be to make it exciting and interactive. That said, I went into the class today not expecting to be wowed or super pumped up by anything. Instead, I expected a dry study session but something worthwhile that would help me understand the differences between OH and NC laws.
The lady who was running the day was exactly what I expected: older, soft-spoken, straight to the point, etc. What I didn't expect was how she would do the actual, "teaching". The first half hour she told us about herself, was very specific how we filled out our forms, and shared with us the fact that North Carolina was the first state to enable Notary Publics which dated back to 1777. She hung onto this last fact with a strange amount of pride. I guess that was my first clue. But then the shit really hit the fan.
For the next five hours she read the book at us. That's right... she read it. No inflection to her voice, no added emphasis, no personal stories, nothing. She read. And that's all she did. She read out of a book like she was reading to herself. To add insult to injury, she ended the lesson by going over every single question on the final fifty question test.
The thing that probably bothered me the most is that being a Notary isn't viewed as that big a deal to the general public, but it really is. Everything we do in our life that involves BIG decisions... cars, houses, marriage, divorce, wills, trust planning, business ownership, everything, requires a Notary. Nine of the terrorists who attacked us on 9/11 gained fake licenses, etc., by using Notaries who didn't take their roles seriously. This is real stuff that should be taken seriously... and taught seriously. And all I got today was an old lady reading a book and then force feeding us the answers to the test just so that she could paid and move us out.
And this stupid hypocritical pride in NC Notary history probably burns me up even more. I can't tell you how many times the guideline book and then this lady today told us how much more important this state views the Notary Public role, and that they devote more training to it than almost any other state. Truth is, it's all a front. I had a lady read to me for five hours, was given all the answers to the test in the last ten minutes so I would score a good grade, and then had my wallet raped. Oh yeah, I forgot to mention this whole process costs a total of $140 and that's even before I have to buy my endorsement stamp/embosser.
I want to scream.
If there can be any kind of good that came out of today, I did get to have lunch with my friend Evan. We always seem to have off-schedules, but he goes to school at the same college so it was perfect timing. And after the nightmarish day, I'm now a Notary for the state of NC. So I accomplished my goal and got to see my friend. Alls well that ends well, right?
Part of my job requires me to be a Notary Public. For some reason I had not been able to get my North Carolina Notary since moving down here, but last month my boss asked me to follow through on that. The process is a little more complicated here than in Ohio, including a day-long class at a local community college. Today was the day I took the class.
Before I start complaining, let me say it has to be difficult to facilitate a class as boring as Notary Public. The legalize language alone is mind-numbing to read and study so I can only imagine how hard it would be to make it exciting and interactive. That said, I went into the class today not expecting to be wowed or super pumped up by anything. Instead, I expected a dry study session but something worthwhile that would help me understand the differences between OH and NC laws.
The lady who was running the day was exactly what I expected: older, soft-spoken, straight to the point, etc. What I didn't expect was how she would do the actual, "teaching". The first half hour she told us about herself, was very specific how we filled out our forms, and shared with us the fact that North Carolina was the first state to enable Notary Publics which dated back to 1777. She hung onto this last fact with a strange amount of pride. I guess that was my first clue. But then the shit really hit the fan.
For the next five hours she read the book at us. That's right... she read it. No inflection to her voice, no added emphasis, no personal stories, nothing. She read. And that's all she did. She read out of a book like she was reading to herself. To add insult to injury, she ended the lesson by going over every single question on the final fifty question test.
The thing that probably bothered me the most is that being a Notary isn't viewed as that big a deal to the general public, but it really is. Everything we do in our life that involves BIG decisions... cars, houses, marriage, divorce, wills, trust planning, business ownership, everything, requires a Notary. Nine of the terrorists who attacked us on 9/11 gained fake licenses, etc., by using Notaries who didn't take their roles seriously. This is real stuff that should be taken seriously... and taught seriously. And all I got today was an old lady reading a book and then force feeding us the answers to the test just so that she could paid and move us out.
And this stupid hypocritical pride in NC Notary history probably burns me up even more. I can't tell you how many times the guideline book and then this lady today told us how much more important this state views the Notary Public role, and that they devote more training to it than almost any other state. Truth is, it's all a front. I had a lady read to me for five hours, was given all the answers to the test in the last ten minutes so I would score a good grade, and then had my wallet raped. Oh yeah, I forgot to mention this whole process costs a total of $140 and that's even before I have to buy my endorsement stamp/embosser.
I want to scream.
If there can be any kind of good that came out of today, I did get to have lunch with my friend Evan. We always seem to have off-schedules, but he goes to school at the same college so it was perfect timing. And after the nightmarish day, I'm now a Notary for the state of NC. So I accomplished my goal and got to see my friend. Alls well that ends well, right?
posted by Sam at 7:06 PM
4 Comments:
Wow. It's been a long time since I've seen Evan. What a great guy!
Second try, don't know what happened to the first.
AND....whenever you teach whatever you know how NOT to teach. I am sure would be like your Father and make it very interesting and memorable. Congradulations.
oh man, what a difference between there and Jefferson Co OH. All we needed to know here was how to raise our right hand and be sworn in. Too bad they allow people like that to teach anything. But congratulations! And, yes, I suppose all is weell that ends well.
I heard Evan is now "batting for the other team" and is their "all-star catcher". Is that true?
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