Baseball.  The Great American pastime.  We sat on the 3rd base side with our son, daughter-in-law and grandson who was full of observations and questions.  We had purchased our food and drinks and settled in to our seats to spend a lazy summer evening at the ball park.  It wasn’t until about the fourth inning that I began to notice the people sitting behind us.

“What were you thinking?”, the woman yelled at the player.  You need to imagine the voice of Howard’s mother on Big Bang Theory for this.  I could only imagine how she must have yelled at her kids while they were growing up.  “That’s it, we’ve lost this, this is terrible” in only the 4th inning.  Sure, the score was 6-0 in favor of the visitors, but we still had half a game to go.  At one point she went on and on about how hot it was where we were sitting (it was actually pretty pleasant) but that maybe if she had another beer she wouldn’t care if it was hot or not.  She slid out of her seat and that’s when I got a good look at her.  About my age with a tie-dyed t-shirt, fanny pack and a white plastic visor stuck between her and the fanny pack there she was –  a serious baseball fan.

Now you have to understand that is NOT major league here, but what I would consider an average minor league team.  It’s cheap entertainment to take the kids to and with Fireworks Friday, it’s a total bargain.  But these two behind us only found things to complain about.  They were highly entertaining and I almost choked when she yelled “move your fanny!!!” at one of the players in Howard’s mother’s voice.  I mean, who uses the word fanny anymore?

Just like so many other things in this world, people are quick to judge but slow to encourage.  Whatever happened to cheering on your team and not tearing them down?  Sure, you paid for your ticket and it would be nice if they won, but isn’t the whole idea  supposed to be a time to enjoy yourself with friends and family on a beautiful summer night?  I’ve sat around people before at sporting events where all they do is criticize the players and coaches, using foul language around whoever happens to be around them, children included.  What are we teaching our kids about playing our best no matter the outcome?  How are we teaching them about good sportsmanship?  In a world where parents start fistfights at kids games, I’m not sure why I’m surprised anymore.

In my classroom we sometimes play games to teach concepts and I have kids who get angry, cry and just want to sit out of them because they get too stressed out.  I find myself  trying to teach kids what a “game” is supposed to be and how we should behave when playing one, the key word here being “play”.  But they don’t get it.  “Nothing is fair, he laughed at me when I did this, she cheated, they cheered when they won and that’s bad sportsmanship” – the list goes on and on.  So then I’m teaching them what good sportsmanship is as well.  It’s a sad thing.

I see this on the playground as well, all judgement, no encouragement and everyone insisting that everything be their interpretation of “fair”.  There is no patience, no give and take, no flexibility and they don’t know how to deal with any of it themselves.  As adults, we’ve not allowed them to create and play games and figure out how to solve problems and conflicts on their own.  None of which is surprising when I see some  parents who can’t do it either and who are every bit as negative as their children.

There is enough seriousness in the world,  and sometimes what we need is a no brainer pastime, something we can all do or attend where we just get to join our friends and family and have fun.  Remember fun?  It’s not all about winning, it’s about participating in or watching activities with people you love to be with.  I’m a competitive person, by the way, but there are times to be competitive and there are times just to let go and have fun and tonight was a time to have fun and not complain.

The good news is that the fireworks apparently made up for the game, which actually turned out not so bad.  We did lose but it was 6-5 in the end.  As the couple behind us oohed and aahhed like little kids over the fireworks, I wish they could have enjoyed the game more.  Life if too short to be grumpy about things that are not that big a deal, so enjoy your family and friends while you can and look for the fun in life, even if the players don’t move their fannies.