Drama Breeds Drama

Work has been like a soap opera lately. Except for the fact that most of the things that are happening are not widely recognized as dramatic or life changing events like they are on most soap operas. For some reason, most people don't think cutting all of the funding for graduate assistant tuition has the same level of drama as "my husband cheated on me and I found out but then I was in a car wreck because I was so distraught and had a head injury and so now no one knows if I remember." Which has not actually happened to me, obvii. And I try to convey the appropriate level of tragedy that this actually is for those of us involved, particularly those who decided to come to Texas A&M specifically because they were offered tuition waivers and now face difficult choices about continuing, student loans, staging a riot, etc. But I can tell from the bf's "well, that sucks?" (you know, where their voice rises on the end of the word as though they're not really sure if this is the correct response) and associated comments that he doesn't get it. Non student affairs people usually don't. It's our own little world and is currently filled with intrigue, annoyance, melodrama and a little bit of hysteria. And as the title of this post suggests, drama leads to more drama. And I don't like it. Drama on a Division level. Drama on a Department level. Drama across Departments. Drama between coworkers. And somehow I've ended up as a sounding board for a lot of it. I don't really mind. To be quite honest, the main reason I ended up in this profession was because, as a freshman, I thought the RAs must know EVERYTHING that happened in the building and I needed to know this stuff too. But now we've reached a whole new level. It seems that every day is more dramatic than the last and, I'm sorry to say, it's turned me into a bit of a drama queen. Not that I don't have my moments already but it's concerning when the drama of the work day follows you home, through P90X, through cooking dinner and suddenly, you CANNOT take the battle noises coming through the wall one.more.minute and you burst into tears. Not to mention, it kind of freaks the bf out. He handles it well though. So my charge to you is: Think before you drama. Is it really necessary to stomp down the hall, burst into someone's office and start with "you WILL NOT believe what so-and-so has done now!!!"? The answer is: No. It's not. Air it out. I know it feels better. But y'all are killing me. And you're making my boyfriend think I've gone off the deep end.