Tuesday, March 16^th, 2020

For Example

We were sitting in the stands for the semi-final round of the volleyball playoffs. Brat Boy’s team was playing the team with kid with the gold head band, bad haircut, and worse attitude. Gold head band’s team lost. The players lined up to shake hands, but he walked to his bench and sat down, glaring at his teammates.

“Talk about a sore loser,” I said, louder than I intended. Because God has a sense of humor, the people sitting behind us were gold headband’s parents. And of course, they heard me.

“Well,” his mother said spitting out the word and a few drops of saliva, “Show me a good loser and I’ll show you a LOSER!” Her husband cursed, and called me a loser.

I could have pointed out that their kid’s team had just lost. I could have cursed them. Instead, I pointed to Brat Boy. After shaking hands, he was talking to the opposing players. “Show me a gracious winner, and I’ll show you a winner,” I said. They stomped off.

“Where have I seen that before?” I asked my wife, remembering how gold head band had stomped off after the first match with Brat Boy.

“Kids learn by example,” Dr. Deb said. “Their kid’s just like them.”

Today I will try to set a good example.

2020 Vision ©2017 & 2018 by Ken Montrose

2020 Vision is a work of fiction. Any similarity between the characters and anyone you might know is purely coincidental.

Other works by Ken Montrose are available at: www.greenbriartraining.com https://www.pinterest.com/kenmontrose/mt-rose/