fandomhigh | Slacking - First Meeting [Friday, Period 1]

Max wasn't sure how a class on slacking had gotten scheduled so early in the day, but he found it vaguely amusing, really. He had already located his assigned classroom so that he wouldn't embarrass himself too much by wandering around lost. He even arrived early to class, but that was mostly so that he could prop his feet up on his desk, slip on his sunglasses (they were a great invention, and his trip to Fandom was probably worth it to discover the things even if nothing else came of it), and take a nap. He woke up when the first student arrived, but he didn't give any sign that he had. He wanted a chance to observe them.

Once the count of students matched the list he had been given he spoke without shifting position. "Welcome to Slacking. I am Tribune Antillar Maximus. You may refer to me as 'Tribune' or as 'Maximus' or as 'Max'. I'm not planning on this being too terribly formal." He sat up and slipped off his sunglasses. "That said, you are each here to learn, and I am here to ensure that you do just that. Keep that in mind during our sessions."

He pushed himself to his feet and settled into a relaxed stance, voice falling automatically into the steady cadence of someone who taught people how to stay alive. "The first thing we need to do is establish a shared definition of our subject matter. For the purposes of this course you should understand 'slacking' to refer to the productive avoidance of assignments. I suspect that each of you have found yourself in positions where someone in authority over you is incompetent, stupid, or both. And if you haven't yet, well, it won't be too long. Such situations are an inevitable part of life. When these situatiosn arise you find that you are much better at determining how to accomplish things than your sueprvisor is, and further you find that they tend to give you orders to do things in an inefficient or even counter-productive manner. Slacking allows you to get your incompetent superiors to leave you alone while you get real work done."

Max's gray eyes scanned the room calmly. "Since your incompetent superiors are, in fact, incompetent, they expect work to take far longer than it really does. This, in turn, allows you to spend much of your time relaxing. A successful slacker is able to deflect the attention of their superiors, get their real work done, and do whatever they feel like doing with the rest of their time."

"For today's meeting we're going to keep things simple. State your name and describe a situation from your own life where slacking has been useful, or where it would have been useful if you had been better at it. Then, since I have no desire to waste anyone's time, you're free to do as you wish. Talk to one another, talk to me, leave..." He shrugged his massive shoulders. "Oh, and if anyone is interested, I am looking for an assistant for this class."

[The assistant position is actually open here, so if anyone is interested feel free to chime in.]

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Max snorted in amusement when he realized one of his students was sleeping. It hadn't been all that long ago that he'd been doing the same thing, after all. Still, it didn't stop him from shifting his weight slightly and stomping. It wasn't a particularly strong stomp, but he was a good enough earth crafter to bounce Marco's chair a good inch or two off the floor.

The chair bounced, and Marco bounced off. "Huh?" He asked eloquently off from the floor.

"Do you need me to repeat the question?" Max asked in obvious amusement.

"I didn't do it!" Marco said hurriedly. "Um...yeah. Was there a question?"

"First class meeting," Max offered suggestively.

"Marco, Los Angeles, California, 2001, uh... I stopped an alien invasion of Earth." Marco guessed.

"Excellent attempt, Marco. Now if you would be so kind as to explain how stopping alien invasions allows you to avoid work..."

"Oh." Marco considered this, still on the floor. "Well, actually, that was for my interesting fact. I think the fact that I was asleep a minute ago explains how I avoid work."

"Except that in this case it would have been less work for you if you'd known the question."

"Good point." Marco conceded, actually moving back to his desk. "But I would have gotten less sleep."

"Excellent counter-point," Max conceded. "Is there a compromise position, do you think?" He could think of a few, after all.

"Uh...answer the question then sleep?"

"Or work out some sort of agreement with another student to pass you needed information if I wake you up," Max suggested.

Slacking - First Meeting [Friday, Period 1]

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