Okay, so I am short. At only 5'1" I find myself thinking about the advantages tall people have over me. Literally, OVER me. Oh, what I wouldn't give to be just 4 inches taller. Anyways, did you know that you have to be 5'11" to play women's volleyball? Isn't that discrimination? Okay, how can I articulate exactly what I am thinking? How can I communicate how stupid and ignorant this is? Maybe it would help if I stated the basics of the sport…
1. You have a ball, you have a net, and you have two teams
2. The net divides the court in half.
3. One team on each side of the net.
4. The net is ?? many feet above the ground.
5. The ball cannot touch the ground.
6. The teams hit the ball back and forth over the net in hopes the other team will miss and the ball will hit the ground on the opponent's side of the court.
Now, of course it is a little more complicated and officials have rules and guidelines, but you get the idea. But there is ONE thing that rules cannot put a cap on… someone's height. You could be a foot taller than the net, or in most cases, the same height. So, if that is okay, then would it be okay for me to come along and stand on a 1 foot platform? Of course not! But yet I would be the same height as all the other team members. Are you starting to get my point?
Now let's talk about men's pro basketball. The basketball goal is like 10 feet from the ground. Now, whoever made the game up was probably short and thought the game would be more fun and challenging if the net was a lot higher off the ground. But isn't it kind of like cheating when you get someone who is 8 feet tall?! Well, I can't say that's cheating, but it is definitely an unfair advantage and no matter how hard I practice, I won't be that tall.
Now in wrestling there are divisions. Lightweight, middleweight, heavyweight, etc. Now THAT is what I am talking about. There is something for everybody and no one really has a HUGE advantage over anyone else. So wouldn't it make sense to carry that out in all sports? For example, women 5'3 and under would be in the low-height division with a net only 6 feet above the ground. And women 5'4" – 5'9" in the middle-height division with a net 6 and a half feet above the ground. And so forth. And it would be almost the same thing in basketball.
I have always been a very athletic person and I think it stinks that I was pretty much eliminated from ever playing volleyball or basketball when I like the sports and I'm not bad… for a short person. So, I stuck to only Gymnastics, soccer, and softball, but a tall person could have their pick from all the choices. It's not fair! And I am tired of people saying "well, life isn't fair". That's true, but is no excuse! If we can do something to help make this life just a little more fair and enjoyable for everyone, then shouldn't we?
- My numbers and calculations may be off. But you get my point.
Monday, March 23, 2009
Age has nothing to do with Relation
Now, I am a very picky person. I am not at all picky with punctuation, and I know that I am comma happy, so please do not criticize my grammar or choice of words. But, I am picky about many things and this being one of them.
The whole idea of having names for different relationships (i.e. aunt, uncle, cousin, brother, best friend) is so that when you are speaking to someone who does not know who you are talking about, they understand the subject's relation to you.
The only time age has something to do with your relationship to someone else is when we are traveling up or down the parent/child ladder. For example, the youngest mother on record is a 5yr old (sick!) so, someone's mother HAS to be AT LEAST 5 years older than the child, and a grandmother 10 years older, and so on. Wow… I wonder what it would be like for my grand-mother to only be 10 years older than me. Maybe if we all started having children earlier we would know more of our family, and longer! Ha! Sorry, that's my ADD kicking in. And please don't take all of my comments literally. Besides, I think the consequences of having children that young would definately out number the benefits.
Now, back to what I was saying... when we are talking about cousins and aunts or uncles, age has nothing to do with your relationship! For example, a mother has a son when she is 20 and accidentally has another son when she is 40. The two brothers are now 20 years apart. The older brother has a child at the age of 21 and now the younger, one year old, brother is now an uncle.
I dated an uncle (not my own) that was the same age as his nephew, and it drove me crazy when he would call his nephew his cousin! I told the uncle, that I was dating, "He is NOTHING like your cousin. He is your brother's son. He is NOT your aunt's son". But just because the ages of all his cousin's was about the same as his nephew, he thought it would be alright to consider his nephew a cousin.
Maybe I have gotten pickier since being a mother. I want my children to be educated. But I have found myself picking on my husband, Bobby, a little bit about his choice of words when describing someone. Bobby's best friend's name is David, and I caught Bobby talking to our daughter, Caitlyn, about "Uncle David". Umm… no. He is not her uncle. Caitlyn already has 7 biological and adopted uncles. PLEASE DO NOT confuse the child more than she already will be. Besides, to hold a title such as "Best Friend" is an honorable thing. You pick and choose your friends, not your family. So, give credit where credit is due.
I could go on with more examples, but I don't think it's necessary. I hope you get the idea.
The whole idea of having names for different relationships (i.e. aunt, uncle, cousin, brother, best friend) is so that when you are speaking to someone who does not know who you are talking about, they understand the subject's relation to you.
The only time age has something to do with your relationship to someone else is when we are traveling up or down the parent/child ladder. For example, the youngest mother on record is a 5yr old (sick!) so, someone's mother HAS to be AT LEAST 5 years older than the child, and a grandmother 10 years older, and so on. Wow… I wonder what it would be like for my grand-mother to only be 10 years older than me. Maybe if we all started having children earlier we would know more of our family, and longer! Ha! Sorry, that's my ADD kicking in. And please don't take all of my comments literally. Besides, I think the consequences of having children that young would definately out number the benefits.
Now, back to what I was saying... when we are talking about cousins and aunts or uncles, age has nothing to do with your relationship! For example, a mother has a son when she is 20 and accidentally has another son when she is 40. The two brothers are now 20 years apart. The older brother has a child at the age of 21 and now the younger, one year old, brother is now an uncle.
I dated an uncle (not my own) that was the same age as his nephew, and it drove me crazy when he would call his nephew his cousin! I told the uncle, that I was dating, "He is NOTHING like your cousin. He is your brother's son. He is NOT your aunt's son". But just because the ages of all his cousin's was about the same as his nephew, he thought it would be alright to consider his nephew a cousin.
Maybe I have gotten pickier since being a mother. I want my children to be educated. But I have found myself picking on my husband, Bobby, a little bit about his choice of words when describing someone. Bobby's best friend's name is David, and I caught Bobby talking to our daughter, Caitlyn, about "Uncle David". Umm… no. He is not her uncle. Caitlyn already has 7 biological and adopted uncles. PLEASE DO NOT confuse the child more than she already will be. Besides, to hold a title such as "Best Friend" is an honorable thing. You pick and choose your friends, not your family. So, give credit where credit is due.
I could go on with more examples, but I don't think it's necessary. I hope you get the idea.
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