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artemisia · Joined: 04 Nov 2008 Posts: 875 Location: the world

This thread has branched off into two areas: runner stories and whether or not they should be posted and a debate about the ethics of taking that action. Looks to me like the two have got a bit mixed up.

fladude · Joined: 02 Feb 2009 Posts: 432

As for the debate of runners being losers... all I can say is that in my opinion some are and some aren't. But that's just my opinion, and opinions are like butt holes, everybody has one. Some people are simply in a bad place and are subject to discrimination or sexual harassment and have to run. Some people have simply been lied to and discover that they really can't live off of the salary which they are being paid. And some people are well just losers who fly the coup at the drop of a hat.

Now to tell my own runner story.....

I actually have a really bizarre runner story about such an incredible loser that it would be hard to top......

Our school principal pulled a runner. Yes I said principal, in a public high school. Now I have to admit that the conditions are pretty unnerving up here at times. We teach on a Native American reservation in the arctic. It is above the arctic circle, above the ice pack on a small spit of land in the middle of nowhere. Its dark here now and the sun won't rise again this year.

While the housing and pay are fine, the act of adjusting to living in a native village in the arctic can be traumatic. Its the loneliness and isolation which get to you. Couple this with the hostility, alcoholism and general xenophobia of the native population and you have a recipe for a difficult teaching experience.

I even have to admit that I almost broke my own contract my first year here. If you aren't used to being totally alone and living in a place where you can't get out at all, then its difficult (and I certainly wasn't). Still though I managed to stick it out and even signed up for a second year (although you won't catch me up here for a 3d year... once I get my 2 years experience then I am GONE).

So anyway the principal, who was new to Alaska this year, announced one day after school that he was going to fly home for the weekend to see his family. He had not given anyone any notice nor had he scheduled any time off, and you can't really fly home for a weekend since it takes 2 days just to get anywhere from here. So even if he had just been flying home for the weekend, he should have scheduled one or two days off in advance. Before he left, he sold his tv and his larger belongings. When he left for the "weekend" he took 5 suitcases. These were all clues to me of course, and I knew right away that the guy had pulled a runner.

Sadly, some of the teachers and staff actually went almost 10 whole days (which is more than a week obviously.....) before they really believed that the guy was not returning. And you all know how some teachers are loyal to the principal. It was almost funny listening to his followers talk about how he would be back any day now (funny or sad, take your pick). Some people were even hostile towards me because I had told them that the guy wasn't coming back. Admittedly the principal added to the illusion. He even called in once or twice to tell people that he was sick, when in fact he had no intention of returning. I am not sure why he bothered doing that, unless he was just trying to get paid for an extra week of "work" by using sick leave.

I thought that his behavior was pathetic. If he had quit with notice then I would have forgiven him but the way he lied about it and went without notice was pathetic. Its hard for me to imagine a principal who was making over 100k pulling something like that, but he did it. And I'm sure it affected his teaching license.

Still though it is a hard job and the school district certainly doesn't do a good job of preparing people for it. I was told, for example, that I would have high speed internet when in fact my connection is slower than 56kb. And no one told me that beer was illegal until I got here. Still though I didn't pull a runner, and even if I had left I certainly would have given notice and let everyone know that I was going to be leaving in advance. I wouldn't have lied about it like our loser principal did.

naturegirl321 · Joined: 04 May 2003 Posts: 9041 Location: home sweet home

fladude · Joined: 02 Feb 2009 Posts: 432

DosEquisX · Joined: 09 Dec 2010 Posts: 361

If an employer is being abusive towards you, blatantly breaching the contract to your disadvantage (pretty common in SK) and firing people for no reason, I would not begrudge somebody for running.

Many people will run if there's a death in the family or something like that. My father died during my SK contract and I came back because I signed a deal and my school did nothing to justifying leaving them high and dry. To me, that's not really a good excuse.

Hod · Joined: 28 Apr 2003 Posts: 1613 Location: Home

Never Ceased, not sure I understand the cherry picking comment, but your opinion is as valid as mine or anyone else�s.

When you take a conversation class, and one or two students offer an opinion which is different from yours, do you step in and tell them so and stamp your authority? Or would you stand back and offer a comment to make others think and prolong the debate? I know what a better teacher would do.

Never Ceased To Be Amazed · Posted: Tue Dec 14, 2010 12:12 am Post subject:

naturegirl321 · Joined: 04 May 2003 Posts: 9041 Location: home sweet home

NCTBA recanted his previous statement. Being a man, he doesn't have to worry about the stuff us females have to worry about. Ironically the only reason I know about that stuff is because it happened to me. At the time, I wasn't working for the guy who tried stuff, but we ended up going to the police station and incidentally he got fired from his job: because of me. had I been working for them, I probably would have pulled a runner.

Never Ceased To Be Amazed · Posted: Tue Dec 14, 2010 2:10 am Post subject:

I've corrected my previous "123" mistakes, naturegirl321... Embarassed

...sorry!

NCTBA

Justin Trullinger · Posted: Tue Dec 14, 2010 4:15 am Post subject:

It's really hard to generalize- I can't say all runners are losers, cause I don't know all runners. Wink

And yeah, there are runner stories that make you think, when you hear them: "I would have done the same thing."

But I've only had one first had experience with runners. Dude was, in fact, a total loser.

The response on this thread reinforces my view that, in EFL in general, runners are rare. In specific circumstances (some countries, some school types, north of the arctic circle) they probably get more common.

A thought, though:

Perilla · Joined: 09 Jul 2010 Posts: 792 Location: Hong Kong

In the world of TEFL there plenty of TEFLers being taken advantage of - plenty of "fly by night" operations - so it's hardly surprising that some TEFLers sometimes do a midnight flit themselves.

Having said that, the only time I knew of a few "runners" was during the Asian crash of 1997-8. Suddely we were earning half as much money, and yes, a good few jumped ship. (I was in Korea then.)

I knew some of them. The thing is, the stories aren't very exciting. They just went home. Gone.