So yesterday Rocco graduated from Kindergarten and Kim and I attended his ceremony. In case you do not know, kindergarten is NOT mandatory in Pennsylvania. In fact, kids do not have to legally attend school until they are 8 years old. That would mean our son would not really have to show up to school until 2nd grade. Who would do that to a child, I do not know. But the way some of the parents acted I would say they were not in school until they were 8.
It will always boggle my mind how adults still need to be talked to like kids sometimes. In our larger group meetings, the speaker almost always has to wait for people to shut up so they can talk. Really? We are professionals. If you know me well enough, you my find that use of the word "professionals" as hypocritical, but when I am in a meeting and somebody is giving their time, I am professional enough (and courteous, respectful, and attentive) enough to make that person feel like I at least care about what they are saying. Yesterday, I saw what happened when you have a room full of adults gathered in a non-professional setting.
The ceremony took place in a large auditorium at our local high school. The kids sat on the floor and sang from there or stood up occassionally. They had some dance routines that I was glad to see Rocco engulfed in. He only spent a couple weeks in this school after we moved, so I really do not think the graduation was anything more to him than another day of activities. To me, that is what kindergarten was anyway. The fact that a graduation is held like every four years is kind of ridiculous to me. One thing I like I felt a little reflective on was that the MC said this was the class of 2024. Wow. Putting that into perspective, that is going to be so far off from now I cannot even imagine. I cannot imagine being 44 years old and watching Rocco walk up to get his diploma.
I do not think graduating from public/mandatory schools is a big deal accomplishment wise. Do not get me wrong, it is a real milestone though in a child/young adult's life that I can still vividly remember my own. Two weeks after I graduated, I was heading up to the summer camp version of Boot Camp at the US Coast Guard Academy and the directions my life took from there shaped who I am today. What is a kindergartener going to do two weeks from now? Odds are, Rocco will be lounging by the pool, playing with toys, maybe tricking us into a couple extra snacks. I guess for the state of PA, when your kid does something he does not have to do, it is a nice thing. A big deal, well, I just do not know. I did get proud of him because of who he is as a kid. I gave him a big hug and he was really happy when he finally saw us in the crowd. But he is supposed to finish kindergarten. Just like 8th grade and eventually high school.
Something happened in the last several years where everything a kid does has to be rewarded with a medal or a parade of smoke up their ass. I do not understand. When he does bad, we tell him, when he does what he is supposed to, we tell him. When he does what he is supposed to extraordinarily well, we say we are proud of him and show our excitement.
The way some of these parents reacted yesterday, yelling out their kids name AFTER the warning by the MC when the show started, parents standing in the aisles after being told not to, and then the parents proceeding to act like uncivilized loons was beyond my understanding. It was more of a party for the parents and the way they acted made me a little sick to my stomach.
Overall, I enjoyed watching my boy do his little dances, sing his songs, and smile when we got to sign him out for the year and walk back to the car with him. I saw some of his football and baseball teammates who said high to me and got their pictures with Rocco. Maybe I will be a looned parent in 4 years for the 4th grade graduation, but I highly doubt that. The school class size will grow from 300+ in Kindergarten to maybe 2,000 kids by then. Which means maybe 1,700 kids are still sitting at home not even accustomed to school settings and even learning. THAT is a scary thought.
In other news...
- How many more NFL players will get DUIs before the season starts? Justin Blackmon, who does not even have his first contract yet, received his second. David Diehl of the champion New York Giants just got pulled in. Not to mention the several other players in the offseason (I think we are up to 4 or 5 in the past two weeks alone) who do not understand. I guess it is better to read about them getting arrested than read that they are dead or seriously injured or that somebody else is. Mike Vick did disgusting things that resulted in several heinous acts towards animals, but these people put innocent people in danger. Dante Stallworth killed a man. If he did not hit that one single man and stop, who knows where he would have ended up and who might have been left in his wake. Every single time you drink and step behind the wheel, you put you, your family, your property, somebody else's property, somebody else's health, and somebody else's family in danger. It is the most selfish and arrogant of acts. Get it together, NFL players. People cheer for you because they put their hopes on you to win a championship and make their money spent well worth it. They don't need you endangering them.
- The Los Angeles Kings won the Stanley Cup by beating the New Jersey Devils 4 games to 2. I did not see the game, but read a few recaps. Sounds like the Devils may have gotten a bit of a raw deal from some first period penalties, but like I said I did not see the game so I cannot comment more than that. I talked to our resident hockey fan in our office who was torn who to root for. Probably similar to the Giants/Patriots super bowl rematch I went through. However, as a Philadelphian, I can say that a disturbing trend is ending. For at least the past two years, the word champions in the NHL, MLB, and NFL have stepped over Philadelphia teams to get there. First, the Yankees (in the World Series), San Francisco Giants, and St Louis Cardinals all beat the Phillies. Next, the Chicago Blackhawks (in the Stanley Cup) and the Boston Bruins beat the Flyers. In the NFL, last year the Packers stole a win from the Eagles in their romp to the Superbowl followed by the New York Giants narrowly beating out the Eagles in the regular season to go on their yet again another historic Super Bowl win. The New Jersey Devils beat the heavily favored Flyers, but lost in the end. Good I am glad. I like suprise teams going all the way so that is cool. I do not care enough to be upset that players the Flyers HAD are now champs. Good for them. Maybe the trend of beating the Philadelphia teams are over even in the NBA, the Sixers lost to the Celtics who looked like they had a chance against the Heat. Unfortunately for the horrible sounding Celtics fans, their team, being too old and injured, could not finish the season the way every fan hopes their team would.
- While I am not the great basketball fan, I do not see why you would NOT want to see Lebron James and the Heat win the championship. If you are a true basketball fan, you want that. You want there to be that villain who you want to see get popped next year. Short term, it is great to see the other young, likeable star from Oklahoma City take on the evil James, and I am sure people will tune in to see the biggest NBA team vs the best small market NBA team. That is good for the league in the short term, but long term is this: The Heat, with their evil leader James' prediction of unlimited championships, could be like the NWO of the NBA, and the Thunder are the first faction of NBA'ers to try and knock them off. Yeah, those stumblers from Dallas did it last year, but a first year of those players together making it to the finals was good enough. The fact they returned is even better. They are like a more hateable Lakers.
That's all for now. I was driving up to work today and passed by the Lincoln Financial Field, home of your Philadelphia Eagles, and I thought about my next longform article where I compare and see when I changed from loving professional wrestling to football. Don't worry, I will try to make it entertaining.
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