Back To Basics...

For quite a while, I've gone off track from what I originally did with this blog. Seeing the "Stupid" and trying to figure it out.

I was placed firmly back on the rails this week. There was a meeting at the kids' school for us to attend. Seems there was a "major issue" that needed addressing.

Briefly, there's a "Spring Concert" every year at the school. The show is in two parts: the school band gives a recital, and then the kids who decide to try would get up and sing a song, karaoke style. They've always taken it somewhat seriously, rehearsing and tweaking, until they come up with an admittedly good show.

Well, this year, there seemed to be a big falloff in the second part of the show. Kids didn't seem to care, weren't showing up to rehearse, weren't putting in the time. So the show's director decided to eliminate the karaoke half of the program. Made sense to me. If the kids didn't care enough to put the work in, no use letting them get up and give a half-hearted effort. (My own daughter was one of the participants, by the way, and she wasn't working too hard either)

So the meeting came along. There was great wailing and gnashing of teeth over the cancellation. How dare the director do this to the poor kids.

Umm, yeah, hi.

They didn't care about it for the 6 weeks preceding, how did we all of a sudden get this infusion of enthusiasm, with a week to go? The show would have been a disaster, and for the ones who put in the effort, it wouldn't have been fair to ruin the show for them, right? (Remember, my own kid was in it, and I wasn't crying "injustice!". She didn't work hard, that's the penalty, right?)

Nopey. Not how it went down. These parents raised such a ruckus (now mind you, none could, or would, say that their kid had been working at this) that the principal overruled the show director, and reinstated the second half of the program.

Just another instance of the fine example parents seem to be setting for kids these days. None of the work, all of the glory. I think it's a crock, and I'm sick of seeing juveniles raising kids. I think this would have been a great opportunity to show these kids that there are consequences for giving less-than-optimal effort.

One of the idiots at the meeting said that the director's action showed a "complete lack of respect for the children." I'm still from that planet where respect is earned, and I saw no correlation here between the decision of the director, and "respect." As much as I think "amazing" is the single most overused word in the hipster's lexicon, "show me respect" is front-runner in the diluted-phrases department. You don't command respect simply by being born. No way. Not ever.

The whole thing was stupid, from the debate, to the conclusion.

And so, I'm back.