The Future Champs
Footballguy
That is sad.When I was very young, things were different than they are now. Not terribly different, but enough. There was a kid who was very slow in my school. He would be identified as having severe developmental disabilities these days, but then he was just “slow” and people called him r*****d. Never by his name. Just that. He was a nice kid, but slow and lonely and easily manipulated.
One of the prime ways people picked on him was to convince him to say horrible things in class, to the teacher, and get in trouble. The final straw, after which he was never allowed back in our class, was raising his hand and when called on, calling the teacher a string of insults I would blush to say to a $5 prostitute in Haiti after an eightball and a fifth of whiskey.
I recall with startling clarity what my friend Blake said to me after that day. He turned to me and said “I can’t believe they convinced that [fornicating] r*** to do that. What do you think will happen to him?”
I don’t know why I thought of that, but I was sad about that, too.
That said, in regards to the former, I think it’s unfortunate, and I hope no harm comes to those involved, but I reserve my sadness for others. Functioning capable adults who deliberately make choices that aren’t in their best financial interests might actually want those outcomes.