I was at our dance studio supervising people for concert photos. We ran more than an hour behind schedule, it was loud, chaotic, people were annoyed, parents were fed up. It was exactly what I expected. I had blocked out half my day for the photos because I knew that the two hours would balloon. I wasn’t stressed at all.

It was terrible to see people so upset, though. My dance guru, Liz, went through the same chaos during yesterday’s photos so by today, she was seething. It didn’t help that Don kept verbally bashing us teachers.

“None of you have any idea! You’re all useless. Don’t just stand there. Don’t you think? Where are you? Get yourself organised! I let you organise things and it becomes a disaster!”

We’re used to the abuse. Liz has put up with it for the longest, many years. Today, though, she finally snapped. Liz and Don stood in the middle of the studio, yelling at each other. I’ve never seen Liz so angry and frustrated and offended.

They were surrounded by dance students. The students looked uncomfortable. I thought, “This is bad. This is unprofessional,” and I smiled at the kids and herded them back away from the storm.

Half an hour later, I was next to my students in line for their photos. Don came along and started haranguing poor Louise, who had been organising poses and costumes all day. One of my students, Sarah, tried to defend her.

“I think the teachers are doing a good job.”

Don shoots back at her, right in her face. “I don’t care what you think! It’s a disaster! You can’t tell me otherwise. It’s all because the teachers aren’t organised.”

She was shocked and took a step back. I exchanged looks with all my students. It was so rude. I can’t get over how rude and hypocritical Don was. Just an hour ago, he was lecturing the teachers about being presentable, professional and organised but his behaviour today did the most damage to the studio’s image.

He then turned around and started giving me instructions. I said, “Yes, Don. You’re quite right. SURE, Don.” All the kids could hear from my tone that I was being just a little sarcastic but Don seemed oblivious.

Later, I asked one of the senior teachers why he did this. Suzy said, “It’s a power thing. He thinks that if he yells loudly enough people will believe him that none of it is his fault. Everyone else is wrong. He’s the hero.”

It doesn’t work, though. Everyone just looks at him and sees a rude, demanding, inadequate man.