Saturday, October 29, 2005

On Sports

I used to be a sports-fan; not a huge one, just a fan. But in the past several years, my distaste for sports fans has grown.

Last Monday night I took my daughter Amy to her volleyball game at the Boys and Girls Club in Albany. There was a need for a line judge, and I told the referee that I would be one. I made a couple of tough/close calls; one in particular that the parents of the other team objected to (it was on the line, which is in).

One of the girls on the opposing team got mad, and after the game, one of the parents got the girls in a circle (where the one girl was now crying) and repeated "He was wrong, he was wrong."

It bothered me that this parent has not learned one of the most important lessons in life: LIFE IS NOT ALWAYS FAIR. I have tried to teach my kids that bad or incorrect calls will be made all your life. What is most important is how you recover from those calls that you perceive to be bad, or incorrect. It did not matter whether or not the ball was in or out; it mattered how the coach, players, and parents adjusted to the call.

The parent was sending the wrong message to the kids, and perpetuating an ever-increasing problem in this country; one that causes kids to always challenge authority, and to insist, no, DEMAND, that life be fair.

In many things, fairness and justice should be pursued, but in most things (especially the little ones like girls volleyball) acceptance and adjustment should be taught.

Saturday, October 08, 2005

Settling In

I've been in school for two weeks now, and I feel like I'm starting to settle-in a bit. My day to day routine is starting to take shape, and being a creature of habit, I am beginning to feel more comfortable.

I've met some really nice people in school so far. The instructors are all great, and it's a lot of fun (and hard work) so far.

I have taken three tests (Quizzes) so far. I did real good on my first Medical Terminology quiz (49 out of 50), but I did not do as well as I'd like to have on my Speech quiz (not sure yet what the grade is, but I drew a blank on several questions) and my Cell Biology quiz (25 out of 30). Oh well, I guess I need to learn how to study better.

We're going to visit Matt today in jail. He got transferred there from prison in anticipation of his release on October 17th.

Saturday, October 01, 2005

Where Have I Been?

Hope the title of this entry gets you to read the rest. I titled it that way because after this week of riding the Corvallis Transit System (city bus) and the Linn-Benton Loop bus, I have realize how out of touch I have been with what's really going on at the street-level in my community.

I catch the city bus near the Aquatic Center at 9:05 every morning. On that bus I have encountered several different people who have a (disorder?) that I don't know how to label. But generally, they tend to talk to themselves and repeat the same phrase, over and over. Things like "business plan, business plan, business plan" and my personal favorite "holy hat-rack, holy hat-rack, holy hat-rack."

I am not making fun, but I've led such an isolated life just going back and forth to HP and the grocery store and church, that I haven't really experienced the daily life of the city.

Every day I have had a unique and interesting experience watching and listening to the people I come across riding the bus. It started out as a necessity; riding the bus because I don't have a car now. But I realized that this is a way for me to really begin to see the world as it is, and to learn care and compassion for those who are different from me. There are a lot of sick, hurting people in my town, and I want to be able to help them.

I have also been getting a lot of exercise lately too. I swim a mile every morning now before catching the bus, and I do a lot of walking. It feels really good.