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About the time I think the world is beginning to
obtain some degree of sanity and a return to some old-fashioned
values, the rug gets pulled out from under me and we plunge
once again into the abyss of stupidity.
Take for example some of the following, which are real
stories and not something someone made up for your enjoyment
and amazement.
The kids at a school near Sacramento, California (where
else?) have been banned by the school board from playing
tag, dodge ball or red rover. They aren’t allowed to push
anyone on a swing or the merry-go-round. This action was
decided by the local school board based upon the idea that
games such as these tend to lower the self-esteem of some
students. Is this crazy or what?
First of all, I always thought a school was designed and
intended to be a place where people were TAUGHT something
that would be of value to them when they got out of school.
Perhaps, I’m mistaken. Anyway, since we live in a competitive
world and economy, does it make any sense to ignore competition?
If this is the case and a growing theme, then what is the
ultimate fate for major league sports? Will we eventually
see a scoreless sports industry since it might embarrass
someone to actually lose a game? How would we have the World
Series or the Super Bowl, if no one kept score throughout
the year? Are we trying to raise our children to believe
that competition doesn’t count? How long do you think we
can survive as a nation if we fail to recognize that the
entire world economy revolves around competition, self esteem
failures or not?
The next idiotic item of the day is the news flash that
Iran has banned the display of female mannequins in shop
windows. They said that it might incite riots if any noticeable
curves were observed. This leads me to ask what a year book
at one of the Iranian high schools looks like? If all of
the female students are dressed alike in those cover all
burkas, then how is it possible to tell one student from
another? Looks to me as if the only person who could be
identified would be someone with a distinctive eye condition.
I won’t go into that since it might hurt someone’s self
esteem. I might also get sued, which I’d like to avoid
as well.
The final dumb thought for the week is about an ad on
television in England. Seems Ford was running an ad showing
a man getting into his Land Rover after a woman fired off
a starting pistol. The reason behind the ban was the thought
that a depiction of someone using a starter pistol would
clearly convey the concept that it somehow ‘normalized’
gun ownership. I can’t see the logic behind this, since
a starter pistol looks like what? Yes, my friends it looks
like a starter pistol. I submit to you that a person could
make a zillion dollars for himself, if he would design a
starter pistol to look like someone unlike a starter pistol,
like say a brick. Then the folks in charge of starting the
races at the Olympics or wherever could never be accused
of promoting gun ownership, since all of the races would
begin with an official holding a brick in his or her hand
and then it making a noise relating to a gun shot. On second
thought, a brick might be somewhat threatening and you couldn’t
use a carrot, since it is pointed, but a cabbage might be
all right. What do you think? I can see it now, a cabbage
gun starter device thingamajig. No, better leave out
the word gun. It could be called a cabbage-starting device.
This should be fairly easy to sell.
Of course, this idea is completely insane since I imagine
that if the world continues to evolve around the idea I
discussed in my first example, there wouldn’t be any need
for a starter to fire a gun shot in the first place since
no one would be keeping score on how fast anyone ran or
performed any track and field event. I suppose the school
board in Sacramento would just allow any kid or adult for
that matter to just come onto the field and run any race
at his or her own pace without any regard for anyone else.
So, who wins in a situation like this? Well, I guess
anyone who wants to…I’m off to see about where I can claim
my gold medal. Obviously I deserve one.
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