sigh of relief

now i am able to breathe easier and sleep better (although i still have the colds and a sore throat). the whole seminar thing is all behind us now. para akong nabunutan ng tinik!

re: my visual aids, i had to do a bit of overtime last thursday to complete it. of course, my co-worker was trying to help naman, although she only rendered her assistance at five na in the afternoon. what irked me was that there didn't seem to be any signs of panic on her face, probably because she was NOT the one who was going to do the lecture. in short, things got done by 7 in the evening and i got home at around 8:30 na. she was wishing me good luck repeatedly before we parted that night. yeah right!

i was afraid i wouldn't make it to the seminar because i felt like i was already coming down with something last thursday. my hacking cough and aching body was probably the result of too much stress thinking about the darn lecture. fortunately, when i got up yesterday morning, i felt a bit better, although my voice was a bit hoarse. so on to the lecture i went.

we actually started an hour late. the resident doctors who were assigned to help us with the equipments (sound system, projector, screen) somehow forgot their responsibilities. had i not called their attention, we would have been waiting for eons for them to help us out.

anyway, as any novice lecturer would be, i was nervous and anxious as ever. i managed to calm my nerves as i saw some of the audience nod their head in approval while i was discussing something. that sort of gave me hope and confidence. i was probably saying something that was actually making some sense to them.

now came the open forum. i braced myself for people who would be asking challenging questions as well as irrelevant ones. joseph warned me that those who asked the irrelevant Q's are usually the ones who just want some attention. in other words, mga gustong magpasikat.

okay, so i called on a few who did have some worthy Q's up their sleeves. then there was this guy in a dark shirt who raised his hand and asked me to clearly differentiate some terms i used in my lecture. (by the way, i was discussing about a few techniques to manage behavior in kids with ADHD in the home setting.) he told me to differentiate punishment from penalty from time-out. (this actually is an irrelevant question because i was not discussing about terms and their definitions. i was merely talking about techniques.) so to appease him, i said, "Time-out is a form of punishment, while punishment is synonymous with penalty. Both punishment and penalty are negative reinforcements." then he goes, "No, mali yata yun. from what i studied in DLSU, punishment and penalty are not synonymous terms, for sure."

a parent from the audience, who happened to be also a physician at our hospital and who was also sending her kid to our clinic, spoke up to say something in the same context as i did a few minutes ago. then, mr. know-it-all replied, "Hinde talaga eh. Ang alam ko di talaga synonymous yung dalawa."

so, dra. G, probably getting irritated na rin, asked him to tell us what the difference was. you know what mr. smart-ass said? he said, "well, actually i CANNOT recall the exact words anymore. basta alam ko di sila synonymous. so suggestion ko lang, if di kayo sure sa sasabihin nyo, wag nyo na lang idi-discuss kasi mako-confuse lang yung audience nyo."

everybody was stunned, including me of course. but i wasn't dumb enough to stoop to his level. i just ignored all his comments and i was smiling the whole time, making it obvious to him that i wasn't going to be affected by his smart aleck remarks. geez, some people are just so KSP, thinking that they're highly intellectuals when in fact, he was already making an ass out of himself by asking a super irrelevant question.

oh well... charge to experience na lang. pero when i recall yesterday's highlight, i just laugh at the thought of mr. smart-ass. i pity the guy.