Tag Common Sense

Are You Kidding Me? Again?

Steve Keating 4 Comments

Okay, this is another of those posts which I’m not supposed to write, social media “experts” tell me I should stay on topic, which would be leadership. But I could make a case that this post IS about leadership although it could also expose me as politically incorrect to those who don’t know me. For those who do know me, well, they won’t be surprised at all. I’ve long thought we (both Americans and most of the rest of the world) have gone over the cliff with political correctness and now we have further proof that my thoughts are correct.

The Wisconsin Interscholastic Athletic Association has sent an email to athletic directors with a list of “cheers” that have been deemed contrary to good sportsmanship.

Now I’m all for good sportsmanship. I think youth sports can teach kids a lot about life. It teaches them the importance of teamwork and it demonstrates that passion and commitment can lead to success. Perhaps most importantly, it teaches them that sometimes you win and sometimes you lose. They learn that there are usually rewards for extra effort and that lack of effort leads directly to failure. 

Apparently the Wisconsin Interscholastic Athletic Association has some other lessons in mind. I can’t imagine what those lessons are but I’m sure their intentions are good, no matter how misguided they are.

So what cheers have they decided to ban in the name of sportsmanship? Here’s the list from the email: 

“Fundamentals”

“Sieve”

“We can’t hear you”

“Air ball”

“You can’t do that”

“There’s a net there”

“Season’s over”

Now to be fair, “season’s over” is only banned during the playoffs of whatever sport you might be cheering for. 

The Wisconsin Interscholastic Athletic Association stated in their email that these chants, when directed at the opposing teams and their students were meant to “taunt or disrespect.”

Ya think? My answer to that would be “so what.” 

If you’re a basketball player and you don’t want people yelling “air ball” at you then I’d suggest that you don’t throw up an air ball. I was a goalie on my high school hockey team (for a very short time) and I heard “sieve” yelled in my direction often (why it was a short time) and yet I somehow survived. I never figured they were supposed to respect me just because I was on the ice, I assumed that I needed to earn their respect by not letting them slap rubber past me all night. 

I wouldn’t be surprised if next we heard that beating the opposing team is the ultimate in disrespect so scores should no longer be kept and we’ll just give everyone a trophy for participating….. oh wait, never mind on that last point, I’m too late.

In my not so humble opinion, the Wisconsin Interscholastic Athletic Association is looking to solve a problem that doesn’t exist. They are making babies, perhaps permanent babies, out of kids who will one day not have well-meaning adults protecting them from vile chants like “you can’t do that.” 

Parents who protect their kids from every consequence of life had better be prepared to live a long time because their kids will always need protecting. 

Can we just apply some common sense and let kids be kids. Punish them when required (and I understand that it often is) but don’t punish them for learning to live life. Don’t punish kids by over-protecting them, their peers and “former” friends will do a fine job of showing them what they can say and what they can’t. 

Why, I’ll bet they will learn right from wrong just like us old folks did.

Cecil the Lion

Steve Keating 41 Comments

First off, “experts” in Social Media have told me not to write about stuff like this, it’s too off topic and will diminish my subscribers. Second off…. I don’t care. 

A dentist from Bloomington, Minnesota killed a lion in Zimbabwe and the world has taken notice. Apparently most of what the dentist did was completely legal. Some of what he did was not, he broke some laws. He should be punished commensurate with the laws that he broke. 

This is not the first time the dentist has allegedly crossed the line into illegal hunting. I don’t know the guy but the guy sounds like a very unethical hunter. If I didn’t care about being called judgmental I might even describe the guy as a jerk. 

Also apparently, the lion he killed was “beloved.” He roamed “free” for years at a national park. He was described as a gentle giant. He never bothered anybody, he just did what lions do.

PETA has now called for the immediate execution of the dentist. No trial, no evidence, no lawyers, just kill the damn dentist. Other people who are “horrified” at the murder of this innocent lion have threatened to kill the dentist’s wife and kids. 

Not far from my office in the same Bloomington, Minnesota a demonstration was held outside the dentist’s office. Hundreds of people gathered to protest this man they called an “abomination.” There was media coverage from around the world. 

The death of Cecil the Lion was indeed a big deal.

Mere miles from the dentist’s office is the Hennepin County Morgue. As the protest for Cecil was taking place the body of a little boy was at the morgue. This child was also innocent, he didn’t bother anyone, he was beloved and he was also murdered while doing what children do.

But there was no outrage, there was no protest. The story of Cecil the lion was world-wide news, it was the lead story in Minnesota which is the other side of the world from where Cecil was killed. Cecil was discussed on talk radio for days, he still is as a matter of fact. The story of the murdered little boy was briefly mentioned on the radio, he was one of 30+ murders in the area in 2015…. so far.

Did I mention the fact that the child was a human being and the lion was an animal? 

Has the whole world gone crazy?

The protestors in Bloomington and animal rights activists around the world say we must work to ensure no more innocent lions are killed…. ever! I’m fine with that but where are the human rights activists protesting to ensure no more little boys are killed…ever?

Perhaps if people had the same sense of outrage when a little boy is killed as they do when a lion is killed, perhaps then, just perhaps, fewer little kids would be gunned down while playing in the street. 

Maybe the whole world isn’t crazy, most people questioned in Zimbabwe hadn’t actually heard about the lion and said they were too busy trying to make a living to care about it. But maybe some people truly do place more value on the life of a lion than they do on the life of a little boy. Judging from the events of the last week that would appear to be the case. 

That would also be very, very sad.

 

The Death of Common Sense

Steve Keating 19 Comments

Common SenseYesterday my wife was juicing lemons from our lemon tree. She decided to cut the peels before running them through the garbage disposal and in the process of cutting them she cut something else too. A big, kind of circular cut right on the end of her middle finger.

So off to the Urgent Care we went to see if stitches would be required. Once at the urgent care we waited, and waited, and waited.

It was after a couple of hours that I started to get a little bored so I sent out a light hearted post about our long wait and said something about having no idea the Obama Care had kicked in already. It was meant as a joke.

But admittedly I should have known better.

I learned during the past election cycle that common sense was dead. It was replaced by incredibly over-sensitive people who don’t believe in humor. They only believe in “their position” and refuse to even listen to anything else.

Just to be sure, this is not just a “Democratic” problem, there are just as many over zealous Republicans as there are Democrats. Maybe more.

I received one response to my tweet that said I was being immediately un-followed. I replied that my tweet was meant as a joke. The response I got back was amazing: He said that killing people, poor people, black people, union people, as ALL Republicans want to do is no joking matter.

Another response said that my “insensitivity” showed my “white privilege” and the racist leanings of ALL Republicans.

A few others just cut to the chase and said they hoped I died for insulting the President.

Really? Has it come to that? Is it any wonder nothing gets done in Washington with the outright hatred on both sides of the isle.

Where is the common sense folks? We are all one people and everyone’s opinion matters. What many people don’t seem to realize is that if you don’t allow someone else’s opinion to matter then your opinion doesn’t matter either.

If you only listen to people who agree with you, then you will never learn anything. If you only talk to people who already agree with you, then you’ll likely never have the opportunity to make a real difference in the world.

In my tweet I never said anything about being Republican, never insulted President Obama, never said anything about killing anyone. Yet, that’s what people took from my mention of Obama Care.

Maybe we need to watch a little less of Fox News and MSNBC and return to the days when we valued and learned from the opinions of our friends and families, not people paid to drive up ratings by slandering “the other side”.

I hope common sense can make a comeback; if it doesn’t we are all in for a tough, likely unhappy future.

Can I get a vote for the return of Common Sense to American Society???