Hi, SportsGuy92. Iâ??m glad that youâ??re still posting here. Even when your comments are critical, I still enjoy reading your posts because you are reasonable and have a decent attitude. And I completely understand the problem you have with limited computer access. I share a computer with my wife and our two daughters, now that our older daughter is spending the summer with us before she returns to the city where she earned her degree in math and begins teaching at one of the high schools. We have to take turns using the computer.
Posting messages at a website does not seem to be the most effective way to communicate. Since there is no voice inflection or facial expression (not to mention general body language), the potential for misunderstanding is increased. Earlier this year I learned this the hard way, and ended up having to apologize in a post to a complete stranger. I think sometimes our differences are magnified by the medium that we are using to communicate with each other. I think that my viewpoint is not far removed from your own. Iâ??d say that the differences you and I might have are actually rather trivial.
I'm glad that you told me about what your head coach did. Band students at my high school and other schools in the district were often dismissed by some of their classmates as "band fairies." I know that because I happened to be one of them (a band student, not a fairy).
Your coach knows that respect is a two-way street. I deeply appreciate his attitude. May his tribe increase.
Hope you donâ??t mind if I tell you one reason why I have such a hard time dealing with arrogance. To tell you why so that you will understand, I will have to talk about my dad. He did not have an easy time growing up. He really did not have a father because his mother was married five times. His mother was a character in both the irksome as well as the amusing sense of the word. He nearly dropped out of high school because he had a terrible stuttering problem. Fortunately, he had several friends who encouraged him to stay in school; and as a result he became an extremely successful architect whose friends included an astronaut and a future President of this country. But he remembered his humble background and never became arrogant. He never had to lecture me about arrogance; he taught by his own example. In the spring of 1964, I was a 7th grader in junior high; and I got picked on a lot. One school day I came home in a really bad mood; and I snapped at the first person who met me at the front door, which happened to be the black lady my parents had hired to work for them as a maid. That evening when my dad found out what had happened, he was furious with me; and I almost got punished. If I had called her the n-word (which I never would have done to her or any other black person), I definitely would have been punished. He told me that she was in no position to defend herself and that I should not be disrespectful of her. Remember that racist attitudes against blacks were widespread in 1964; so, my dadâ??s defense of this black maid was remarkable. My dad never looked down on those who had humble occupations. He even once said that he did not care if I became a ditch digger, just as long as I did my job well. He could just as easily relate to garbagemen as well as CEOs. He was even self-deprecating. He would always joke about his â??pigeon legs.â? He would speak of arrogant people as being â??too big for their britches.â? Yes, I do recognize that there are arrogant people in all walks of life (including architecture, as my dad once told me).
Iâ??ll have more to say in another post when I have time to write. Since you are not arrogant and you obviously are concerned about the feelings of others, your father should be proud of you.
I'm fat and sassy! I love to sing & dance & stomp my feet & really rock your world!
