Hi everyone,
I used to attend evening classes at a center. After some time, my teacher left and decided to start his own TED Talks Club. It was originally fee-paying, but he eventually made it free. He invited his former students to join.
I joined, along with a few others, and we held weekly sessions at a co-working space. Our goal was to prepare for a TEDx event at the end of the season.
As the event approached, we began meeting more frequently, usually at Starbucks.
The teacher is a nice person overall, but he’s always been a bit impatient with me. I once said I wanted to do my presentation on anime, and he looked me up and down in disbelief, said it was for children, and told me I couldn’t choose that topic.
He’s always shown a clear preference for the younger members and those with stronger public speaking skills. (We were all between 16 and our 40s. I’m 25, after several people left, I ended up being the oldest)
At the end of one meeting, everyone was packing up and leaving, having left a complete mess on the table. The teacher looked at me, said “Partym!” and pointed to the table—clearly expecting me to clean it up. Then he just walked out, leaving behind his own mess as well.
At the time, I didn’t think much of it. He’s asked me to help clean before, though not in this way. But when I told a friend about it, they said it was extremely rude and that I should have refused. Now that I’ve thought it over, I think I agree.
What would you have thought? Is this something I should speak up about if it happens again? Was it a reasonable request?
Thanks for reading.