Banner Logo
Home
The Real Kato
About Me
Twitter
Facebook
Frozen Lunches
Links
Kottke
Daring Fireball
Amalah
Secret Agent Josephine
Dooce
Contact



Archives
Most Recent

2024 October
2010 November
2010 October
2010 September
2010 August
2010 July
2010 June
2010 May
2010 April
2010 March
2010 February
2010 January
2009 December


Categories
All Categories 

bloggers 
books 
commentary 
dating 
food 
funnyhaha 
interesting 
life 
movies 
music 
politics 
reviews 
science 
site-business 
sports 
style 
techwatch 
television 
theater 
travel 


Recent Comments
On College Football 2022: Week 6 Recap and Week 7 Pre...
Ken said:
Yeah, we've both had our share of hope and disappointment in this game. Let's just hope for a good b...
On College Football 2022: Week 6 Recap and Week 7 Pre...
Dan* said:
I'm not sure how I feel about this game. On one hand, I feel pretty optimistic that we have the tale...
On College Football 2022: Week 1 Preview
Dan* said:
Glad to see you'll be back writing football again, Ken! Congrats on the easy win today. You didn't ...
On College Football 2021: Week 10 Recap and Week 11 P...
Ken said:
Yeah, sorry one of our teams had to lose. I've come to appreciate Penn State as a classy and sympath...
On College Football 2021: Week 10 Recap and Week 11 P...
Dan* said:
Hey Ken, congratulations on the win yesterday! Some really odd choices by our coaching staff in that...


<< Previous: Cheese | Next: Perseverance >>

Punk Ass
Friday, 2010 November 19 - 11:44 pm
I went curling this evening. (All my readers know that I'm in a curling league, right?)

We curl at a hockey rink. Immediately before our ice time, there's usually a youth hockey league that plays... a bunch of 13-year-olds, from what I can tell. Once they finish, the Zamboni runs over the ice, and then people from our club bring out the curling rocks and prepare the ice surface. As I arrived and sat on the bleachers to change my shoes, the ice preparation was going on and the hockey players were departing the locker room.

One of those 13-year-olds yelled over the glass to the people preparing the ice. He yelled, "Women's sport!" with a sneer, as if that were a put-down, and as if that were any more true for curling than it was for hockey.

And then he yelled it again.

Maybe he didn't notice that I was there with a curling broom in my hand. Or maybe he didn't care. But our eyes met as he gleefully repeated his brilliant slur. Four options entered my mind:

(a) I could explain to him that curling was certainly not a women's-only sport, and also that there were plenty of women who played hockey;

(b) I could tell him that it was cowardly and hateful to display a false sense of braggadocio towards something he clearly did not understand, when seemingly protected by a wall of anonymity (and glass);

(c) I could tell him that curling was a game of athleticism and finesse, and were he to try it, he would understand that;

(d) I could call him a punk-ass.

I looked him square in the eye and chose option (d).

Was that the right thing to do? Probably not. But frankly, I have had it with rudeness. I cannot abide the fact that some people think it's okay to do whatever they want, despite who may be hurt by their actions, without any consequences. I cannot stand the fact that some people find it necessary to put other people down to elevate their own status. And on top of it all, I hate when kids pick up these habits, kids who have absolutely no standing in proper society but display a sense of entitlement as if they were kings of the world.

The kid seemed genuinely taken aback. First he asked me, "Are you talking to me?" He didn't say it in a confrontational Robert Deniro-esque manner; I think he couldn't believe that an adult would actually address him that way. I said, "Yes."

Then he asked me, "What did you say?" Again, he seemed to just be asking for clarification. So I said, slowly, "Punk. Ass." And he was dumbfounded.

I glared at him for a moment, finished putting on my shoes, and walked away. As I was just getting out of earshot, I heard him say to his friend sulkily, "That's not even a real word." That made me regret my phrasing to some degree. I should have gone with "little shit", which would have perhaps been within a modern-day 13-year-old's vocabulary.

I am both sorry and glad for what I did. Mostly glad. Maybe, just maybe, when that kid gets the urge to yell something idiotic in the future, he'll look around first for a weird-looking Asian guy wielding a curling broom, and think better of it.
Permalink  1 Comment   Bookmark and Share
Posted by Ken in: life

Comments

Comment #1 from cory (Guest)
2010 Nov 20 - 1:59 am : #
This made me fucking laugh.

Comments are closed for this post.
Login


Search This Site
Powered by FreeFind