You ever get your ass beaten by a parent in a sport?
Teaches you a lesson. That not everyone gets to win.
I recall being blasted in kickball by my middle school teachers back in the late 80's. This was at a time when no one gave a shit about your feelings, the minute you start running your mouth, you get the shit kicked out of you. Great lesson. These days...we want everyone to feel like a winner.
Hot story is, there's this kid with down syndrome who wanted to wrestle. Deven Schuko, an undefeated senior at Norton High, decided (and with a great heart, mind you) that wrestling this kid and letting him get pinned, thus ending an undefeated season, be a good deed. Sorry, it's not. It's good in theory, but misguided in terms of a real lesson.
A lot of us will never get the opportunity to be champs in anything we do. Down syndrome or not. That's the truth. We won't win at everything. Genetics is part of that. I wrestled in the smallest weight class in high school. I sucked. Genetically speaking, I wasn't fit to tangle with boys (you know what I mean). I would feel AWFUL if someone on the other team realized I wasn't up to snuff and threw the match. Better lesson to lose, then to win by phony set up.
I really believe what this kid wanted to do with this other kid was from the heart, but the reality of it was...it's condescending. The true lesson in life, to everyone if you want them to feel equal, is that we don't win. We don't get a trophy. To respect someone, is to treat them as equals. Ass kicking or not, because I think it's much more debilitating to treat someone as a person with affliction, by feigning equality.
No comments:
Post a Comment