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poop beetle: good sportsmanship
6.2002
I went to the required parent orientation for YMC day camp, the other day. I'd recently read an article about parents being required to go to Good Sportsmanship classes before the start of soccer season in Florida. So this made sense to me, especially after the whole recent local deal with the hockey dad who beat the other hockey dad to death. I'd seen this on the news + had to be in the Cambridge courthouse at the same time this case was coming up re: an embarrassing- don't want to talk about it - traffic violation. The Boston news had a whole fleet of vans there with these telephone pole sized radar things attached to the sides. Very big deal.
I stupidly carried with me a set of keys attached to a Swiss army knife that had been given as a wedding gift to all the guests of a party my husband had worked as a bartender. In case you don't know- Court House security has been Heightened.
Besides the knife and the can opener- I beeped like hell cause I was wearing a metal heavy hair barrett. I surrendered my weapons and used female charm to be allowed in- I'm not proud of that.
Anyhow:
YMCA orientation was surprisingly boring- the two counselors went over everything that had already been sent to us in the mail. They stated it & restated it- explained their reasoning behind it- the experiences and common thought that went into each rule ("Lunchables" create too much trash. We teach good sportsmanship).
At some point I realized, it's not me. It's them. They're filling up time. Someone told them they would have to give a presentation and it must have been, for them, like finals for a public speaking class.
I thought about all the times I've done the same thing- filled up space with talking, because I thought that was the only way to make a good impression- stated the same thing in several different ways- to ensure I was being understood, to give the impression that I knew where the other person was coming from- belaboring every conceivable question and concern they might have to show off what a great darn communicator I am- so they'd feel super confidant with having me on their side. I'm pretty sure I did all that in a meeting I had earlier that morning. I vow to curb that dookie.
