GOOD GRIEF, MAN!

well...this afternoon's open gym was rather interesting...

a bunch of guys came to play this afternoon. some of them are on our men's league but i don't believe all of them are. anyway, they brought in the sorriest looking basketball i've ever seen. the one dude asked if he could use our ball pump and we inflated his sorry ball so that he and his friends could use it. we explained that they could go full-court until 4pm and then again from 5-6pm. i explained that we had to cut them down to half-court from 4-5pm since another team would be practicing on the other half of the court at that time.

they were cool with that.

well, another dude shows up and pretty much refuses to use the sorry-looking basketball and offers his driver's license to me to borrow one of our wilson evolution balls. i politely declined, explaining that we have had 46 of our nice basketballs already ripped off and the only way he could borrow one of our balls is if he leaves us $50 to hold for him to use the ball. he provided me with two twentys and i went back and gave him a ball.

around time for him to leave, he came back up to the desk and asked for his money back. i told him to bring back his ball. we switched goods and he left. next thing, i turn around and this one stoopid-looking dude is asking me why i took our wilson evolution back. i explained that his friend who had to leave took his money back and so we needed to put the ball away. he started to get all crazy and began to say, "what, are you serious? UGH! you must be..." and i cut him off with, "EXCUSE ME???"

he stormed off all mad. i reminded him that he brought a ball and that he should use that one.

next thing, a bunch of other guys come up and demand to see a written list of rules, guidelines, and procedures. i asked them if there was anything i could help them with and the one goes on and on and on about how he paid to get into open gym and we should provide him with a ball. my response was, "we've got everything posted online about our guidelines for open gym and it is also posted that we no longer--SINCE LAST MAY--provide basketballs. we've had 46 ripped off already and just don't lend out balls anymore. sorry."

he was floored. began talking about how he was being degraded. and freaked out on why i made that other poor guy fork over forty bucks to use one of our balls that we should be otherwise lending him as it is. i tried to explain to him that this was the other guy's business. if he wanted to fork over the dough, i was more comfortable lending a ball. furthermore, (smiling), i explained that i was being NICE in letting the dude borrow a ball. i told him i shouldn't have even let him use a ball PERIOD.

he hit the roof. asking "didn't he pay the same amount to get in as everyone else," yadda yadda yadda. i then had to explain further that the kids on the other courts with their rack of balls were there in PRACTICES and we provided them with our balls because this is our way of operating and YES, because they rent the court and they actually DO pay more. once you get to the front counter of our facility, you've already passed THREE SIGNS explaining that "YOU ARE TO BRING YOUR OWN BALL TO OPEN GYM."

this guy's logic was WHACK. yup. i said whack. i went inner-city on ya! and i had to keep explaining to this poor man (and i use the term "man" loosely) how we operate and that he would have to bring his own ball next time. he continued to ask me the same question over and over. and i continued to repeat, "sir, just bring your own ball! it's that simple!" wow. idiots.

i'm surrounded by people like this most of the time i'm at the courts. everyone complains to ME. (i usually don't mind the logical complaints, though. but it is still a downer.) but stuff like this gets tiring. and draining. i hate dealing with people who are just like my little kids from the projects but are in grown-up bodies--acting like i OWE THEM SOMETHING.

please.

i hope this guy only ever comes back when i'm there. i'd love to discuss the topic more. or do i mean talk myself in circles with him? what a turd. so as for my title to this post, "GOOD GRIEF, MAN!" this is the reason i write. i spoke to a brainless creature today. someone with a lack of reason. maybe none. ignorant. no sense. hard-headed. whatever you wanna call it. listen dude, maybe you should ask your mommy or granma for a basketball for your next birthday. or next christmas. heavens knows you'll prolly never buy your own ball so you can come and complain to me. about how we owe it to you. or about how you're entitled.

GOOD GRIEF, MAN!

sometimes you have to be told no; someone's always gotta lose

i am sick to death of the way we're babying our youth and young adults of this nation. are we already not screwed with a dysfunctional government? and this two-party political system? our society is going down the tube fast. good thing most people live less than 100 years...so we all don't have to put up with too much of this.

my reason for writing today: check the title. when people play a basketball game or any other game for that matter, someone wins and someone loses. there's hardly ever a draw. but no doubt, those who lose complain. the reffing was one-sided. my kid didn't get to play enuf. so-and-so played for too long. we didn't get all our fouls called.

and what about the whole "social promotion" thing? good grief. well of course! we wouldn't want some poor lazy kid to have hurt feelings! everyone regardless of capability, motivation and progress must be moved to the next grade each year so they don't get left behind and feel sad their friends moved on without them. never mind the kid named diante who missed 98.5 days of school. he must move on to the next grade so that he can stay with his friends! (what the heck? he dropped out of sixth grade anyway!)
and what about that kid tony who made no effort at all? he turned in ONE-HALF OF AN ASSIGNMENT ALL YEAR! but even after the fit that i threw in the principal's office, he was of course moved up to the sixth grade as well.

we're not teaching anyone ANYTHING important. i believe old school is the way to go. you must WORK and take INITIATIVE. you must have some sort of motivation and be DRIVEN in order to move up in any aspect of life. these kids are not dumb. (well...) they know they don't have to do a dang thing in school in order to progress up through the ranks. is anyone aware that the city of chicago is graduating seniors from high school who can't even read? not that they're NOT CAPABLE, but they're unwilling. and since we are rewarding their indifference and whiney attitudes, this'll continue.

the message is: we need to keep everything moving without causing a blip. a bump. a disturbance. we need to try to keep everyone happy. and i for one don't think that ANYONE is benefitting in the end. the children involved nor the society we're graduating them into.

i wonder what will happen when the presidential candidates are told they haven't won and that so-and-so has taken the majority of votes. maybe in the not so far away future we'll have a "joint-presidency" because some of these children who were never told "no" as children won't be able to accept "no" as adults.

and this whole post began because of parents complaining at my place of employment. it got me to thinking.

any thoughts?

getting sleepy...

i'll be off to bed soon but i had to include this pic before i turned in. one day during our international houseparty, (during new year's week when we were in michigan) we had a hayride for the students. when all was said and done and the students had left the area to go back to mariner's cove, i drove back over to old mill point to check on the sauna. as i turned into the old mill point drive, i saw several deer scatter--but one stayed. it just stared at me. i hit the brakes and just watched. i saw that the deer had all been munching on the hay that had fallen off the haywagon. but i guess the one was so hungry it didn't care if i stayed or not. so it continued to munch a bit before wandering slowly off. and i definitely shot it. (with my CAMERA!)

GOOD night.

sickened with sikkens

note to self: next time i use a wood stain or anything of the like, i'll be sure to do it in warmer weather where i can stain it OUTDOORS. i was interestingly sickened on wednesday and i traced it back to breathing amazing fumes from staining my new fun adirondack chair on tues. night that my friend chad made. my chair looks awesome but my roomie & i were not the healthiest of people on wednesday. (and kinda right now...) still not feeling 100 percent. i had the sliding glass door open the entire time with fans on but apparently it wasn't enuf. but i STILL love bringing furniture down from the U.P. that is made out of white CEDAR! (i also have a log bed made of cedar...)

oh, and i hit a deer tuesday night! it was lying in the road--i'm thinking it was already dead--but i was on a two-lane highway (on my way back from the thomae's in laporte on route 2) and there was traffic coming the other direction so i couldn't swerve to avoid it. it was a large deer and my car sorta jumped and skidded into the other lane anyway, but thankfully the oncoming cars i had been trying to initially avoid had just passed.

car's all right. me too.

oh yeah, and "sikkens" is the brand of stain that was recommended to me. it's good quality and my chair looks awesome! i will just need more ventilation next time.

back home again

i'm back and i'm sleepy. AND i'm dogsitting in laporte till january 8th. whew. can't wait to go to bed tonite! more pictures will be coming soon but for now, i'll just add one more from the end of my time up north. we're standing on beaver pond, across m134 from camp. beaver pond is usually a better option for ice skating/hockey. prentiss bay hardly ever freezes enuf to skate on anymore. even the inner bay. sigh. anyway, in this pic from left to right is: andy, abby, me, and chad.

see you again soon with some more pics.