I had a disturbing experience this morning. Actually, it has seemed that for weeks everyone has wanted to be rude to me, but this took the cake.
I went to drop Ananya off for physical therapy this morning at the elementary school like normal. Now I like this school. We have dealt with them for a year now and I've had very good experiences. All the teachers are wonderful. When I got there, there were posters on the doors. One said "Royal Spanks Pirates 4-3-09". Another said "Pirates will walk the plank". The 3rd was the most disturbing. It was a picture of a basketball court. There was an arrow to the hoop. It said things like "this is where the ball goes" and "you should take a hint". The elementary schools in this area run sports teams for Mighty Might/Little League kind of thing. Any one see why I'm disturbed?
We had this conversation in my house not too many weeks ago. Losing a Little League game doesn't make you a "Loser". The purpose is to have fun. I'm not talking like one of the huggy-kissy people that thinks everyone is a winner. I'm saying someone wins, someone loses. That is competition. (Incorrect sentence stucture here.) BUT, in elementary school, Winning isn't the sole purpose of the game. Hard work, commitment, good sportsmanship. Those are important things. You should always be a gracious winner and a gracious loser. Tell the other team they played a good game. Shake hands. Do not boast if you win. Do not sulk if you lose. It's impolite and just plain annoying. These are all the lessons I want my son to learn from playing soccer at the school. This is what all the kids should learn.
Cheating. Thats what happens when the sole purpose of the game is winning. Some one is taught that the only way you aren't a "Loser" is if you win. They get the bright idea to find away around the rules to win. It could be as small as one kid tripping another kid on purpose. It could be as big as a Congressional hearing over steriod use in professional baseball. That is not what I think sports should be about. For kids, I'm afraid it sets the precident that you do anything to win. That follows them through life. Its ok to spread rumors about others for your benefit. It ok to take credit for an idea that wasn't yours. If you make it to the top then you are the "Winner".
The most disturbing part of the entire situation is the fact that the posters were not put up by just the kids. Elementary school children can not drive. They can not get to another school without someone driving them. I'm going to assume a parent was involved in this. That is what I don't understand. This isn't kids being kids. This is adults being children. That annoys me. I can't believe that an adult would put such things up at an elementary school.
I wanted to take pictures of the signs but someone finally used the sense God gave them and took the things down when I went back to drop Prasun off. I am disturbed that the 1st person to the school this morning did not take them down. I can not see any good in having the signs up. They should have been taken down immediately. Well, they should not have been put up to start with.
That is my soap box for the day. I mean seriously people.
By the way. I'm thinking of getting business cards made. I think I'll put on them "I'm sorry. I'm not perfect." How does that sound. I do a million things a day (I'm sure there are alot of people in similar positions), someone should forgive me for not doing everything perfectly or for occasionally forgetting something.
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