It seems like lately if there is a child sitting anywhere near you at a sporting event that pitches a fit you have to seek them out and give up your prize. Recently, this happened at a Texas Rangers game. I don't have an issue at all with a kid being upset at not getting the ball. What really gets me is the way that adults (especially sports announcers) seem to think that it is someone's responsibility to seek out the nearest child if you should happen to catch a prize. Things like this happening are a pretty rare event and I don't think that just because you have a kid it means I have to give up a game ball. I may have a kid I want to give it to. I've seen many instances where the person taking it was a total dirt bag and actually took it from a kid and that's not what I'm talking about. This situation was a straight-up fair catch. Being a kid and crying doesn't mean you get a prize.
Kudos to the parents of the kid for at least being good parents and smart about this and defending the guy that caught the ball. Shame on the morons that are actually calling the couple that caught the ball at their home and harassing them. People can be so stupid.
Rant off.
One more reason I no longer go to any major sporting event... Not that I have been to a MLB game since '94 anyway...
ReplyDeleteDisappointment is one of the major lessons in Life....learn to deal with it, kiddo. The world is not going to hand over your every wish whim and desire on a silver platter. Some get this (the kid's parents, who dealt with their child, not the couple that caught the ball), some don't (the idiots who felt the need to search them out and heckle them over a frikkin baseball). I didn't win the lottery, ya know (mainly cuz I didn't buy a ticket) but that doesn't authorize me to call up the winner and demand they give me a share.
ReplyDeleteOkay, rant over.
Agreed, RabidAlien and that was one of my problems with the whole issue. It isn't this kid or his parents, it's this attitude that we have to coddle the kids to protect them from disappointment.
DeleteI was very happy to hear the parents of the child in question say on the news that they want to teach their child "he can't have everything". We've got a generation out there right now that were given prizes for just showing up. So many of them now expect everything to be given, with a minimum of effort. What is there to strive for academically or socially as youngsters if we all will "get a prize".
ReplyDeleteLate comes the "dumbing down" of academic tests and work aptitude tests so more (read more diverse) candidates can play. The sad thing is the candidates that ARE minorities and are gifted and worked their butts off are labeled with those who did the minimum, going to court when they didn't "Pass".
I saw that at the academy, one guy telling me I got in just because I was female. I told him "I thoguht it was the four degrees (including Ph.D). work history for a government entity as a commander of an aircraft and having the highest score on all the things we were evaluated on as part of pre hire testing, guess it's just because I have breasts". He shut, up later apologised and we became good friends through those many weeks of trial and study.
We do everyone a disservice with this way of raising people, of hiring people.
Thanks, Brigid. That way of thinking is exactly how I have felt my whole life. I would feel that my accomplishments were cheapened if I was receiving recognition for race or gender instead. Honestly, I think quotas and hiring practices based on anything other than accomplishment only serve to detract from the hard work of those classes they are trying to protect. Thanks a bunch, Brigid.
Deletemmasse, I'm with you and NFO. I'm not a big sporting event fan anyways, but when I go it is usually to something on a more local scale.
ReplyDelete