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I am just waiting for the infamous Mr. Sudres to return from his two-and-a-half hour lunch break. From 12-2:30 don't even think about finding him in his office...
When I first arrived at HEC I was directed to the Accueil Residence (Residence Office) where I was to register for my room, get my keys, and sign numerous documents. Of course, as for everything else in France, there was a very long queue to get into Mr. Phillipe Sudres' office. I queued and proceeded to prepare my documents. I had never seen Mr. Sudres, but was already sensing the general attitude towards him from those further ahead in the line.
I had my head down in documentation when the door opened and an angry French voice started to bitch. I looked up and saw the tall, thin, bald man wearing a purple dress shirt. My eyes were drawn immediately to his perfectly defined waxed eyebrows. Mr. Sudres, who did not speak English that day, nagged at the queue for those that were trying to check into residence a day earlier than they had specified. "You are not permitted to stay here a night early! @$*#)%*$#)^%... Respectez la date!"
He turned back into his office and shut the door. Every fifteen minutes or so he would reappear, give the same little rant of which I began to understand more and more, and would disappear back into his office with another student.
Finally, I was next in line and was brought into his office. I thought the best thing to do was to attempt to communicate with him in French in hopes that we would start the meeting on good terms. He was in fact reasonably patient with me and at one point one of my French mistakes made him giggle and he grabbed my hands and gave a full-bodied chuckle, almost flirtatiously. Those who had arrived early were sent away to stay in a hotel, their empty room waiting for them until the next day.
Within the first week, stories were already beginning to be spread about Phillipe Sudres. When we were told to do a skit about HEC at an icebreaking event, my group did one about Mr. Sudres and I was surprised when we received a standing ovation and cheers from around the room. Apparently, this guy is really infamous...
Next, I was invited to join a facebook group entitled "Get Phillipe Sudres fired!" Perhaps I really was lucky that my experience with him wasn't half-bad!
Then... THEN, the worst thing happened. One building had been caught having too many parties, so for an entire weekend, from Friday to Monday, Mr. Sudres ordered the hot water and heating to be stopped. People became sick, had to take ice-cold showers and suffer through the freezing nights with no heating on our coldest days yet. Petitions went around "Turn the heat back on for humane treatment at HEC!" "FIRE MR. SUDRES!" Students complained to administration but only had their complaints blocked by bureaucracy. No one has enough power to do anything around here, nor does anyone know who is really in charge. I believe the truth is that a lot of people are in the position to do small tasks, like turn the heat back on, but no one feels it is their duty, or that they do not have the power. They feel like someone way high up can make these calls, but if the issue ever got that high, it would be some president or director of something who would clearly be overqualified anyway and would likely pass the task on to his inferiors.
I am waiting for Mr. Sudres because it is he who has the authority to give out laundry tokens. This is in his job description. The laundry is not operated by coins, but by tokens of funky shapes. These tokens cannot be obtained at a machine. Only out of Mr. Sudres' drawer at his desk.... to do LAUNDRY! But you'd better not come between 12 and 2:30, before 9am, or after 5pm when a nice-looking young man in a red car picks him up and speeds away.
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Posted by lcbuhler on 2007-10-08 06:13:50 | Rating: | Views: 155
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I love it! The purple dress shirt is crucial Laura. Wait until you see him in his striped clown shirt with short sleeves!!!
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Posted by mksandst
on 2007-10-23 18:48:56
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lcbuhler
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