Things nobody really cares about but I'll comment on them anyway

Sunday, September 14, 2008

Welcome to the world of Middle School.

If you just read the epic post before this then you need to read this tid-bit. So it's Friday and my friend Dave has been back at school for about three days. He has his pics of the race to share with the kids who have been super supportive. I mean how could you not be impressed by a teacher you see everyday accomplishing such an amazing feat. (OK other middle school teachers don't answer this question) But seriously. It's the next to last class at the end of the day (the day where Dave is actually moving around pretty well and well on the road to forgetting the amount of suffering it took to get through his race except for those nasty heel blisters he occasionally bangs into his swivel chair feet) and admittedly the one that most of the teachers find the toughest crowd. Anyway Dave is rolling through the slide-show (I know slideshow but seriously it rocks) and he shows Steve Ahn and John Moore finishing and then his own shots of coming across the line when... One of the smart aleck boys pipes up from the back with something about how finishing after Steve Ahn must mean that he really sucks. HELLO. Welcome to the middle school. No story or experience will ever truly crack the shell of complacency from our under-experienced charges. Nothing like a "gentle reminder" that no matter what you do you will never be that impressive to a 13-14 year old adolescent male. I don't share this to diminish in any way Dave's accomplishment, but merely to illustrate the challenges that we often face even in our own sheltered small community. Likewise I don't pretend that I wasn't as cocksure and self assured in my own way at this age(OK maybe I wasn't as brave as this guy was to say out loud the comment that seemed ripe for the picking). Dave was a little hot when he escorted our young would be comedian to my room. After a short talk with our hilarious comentator I realized there wasn't much I could reason with. He thought he was being funny in a really awkward unappreciated way I'm sure. And much to Dave's credit we were both laughing about the young punk before we headed out for the weekend.
Moral of the story: If you ever need a dose of humility or someone to take you down a notch(deserved or not), just stroll on over to your nearest middle school and see what kind of reception you get from your average student. Just also remember you were once in their shoes.

Zircon

1 comment:

Feather Chucker said...

They probably would have liked him more if after the racing pictures, he fellowed that up with him at a party playing rock band. =) They can relate to that.