Please Indulge My Self-Pity

[Skarp]

I don't know about the rest of you, but I get a kick out of the "my kid is getting screwed" posts that regularly pop up here and on eteamz. They almost all share certain characteristics, namely:

1) The poster is endowed with a huge sense of entitlement, typically grounded in the argument that dd "has paid her dues," or "was there first," or, my personal favorite, is somehow "better" or "special."

2) The poster is new, having probably ventured out onto the web in search of moral support over the injustice done to precious dd. The poster therefore doesn't know that he/she is basically going to be b!#ch-slapped by the likes of Sam and other hard-nosed softballers who reside on these boards and who have absolutely no sympathy for the poster's plight, nor tolerance for the aforementioned sense of entitlement.

3) Not content with one round of b!#tch-slapping, the poster inevitably tries to restate their case a few times, always managing to dig the hole a little deeper. The beating continues until everyone gets bored with it.

4) Deep down, the poster knows that he/she is out on thin ice, which is precisely the reason he/she is fishing for support in the first place. (When you know that you are in the right, you don't need other people to tell you so.) They need affirmation for their belief that their kid is entitled, so they post, and repost, to the point where the underlying desperation is almost palpable.

5) They don't seem to have figured out that all the other parents are sort of fond of their own kids too, and thus might not be quite as atuned to the glorious perfection of the poster's child. A common affliction that other parents, quite simply, detest.

Just my thoughts, FWTW

[artomatic]

see: Roger Clemens

great post, you are a good writer...

i always wonder if it crosses the poster's mind that others on their own team might actually read this post that is on a national board, which makes that ice even thinnner...

[Skarp]

i always wonder if it crosses the poster's mind that others on their own team might actually read this post that is on a national board, which makes that ice even thinnner...

Ditto. I should have added a number 6: the poster typically posts with such specificity that anyone remotely related to the team or organization will know exactly who it is that is posting (can anyone say "pole barn"?), virtually ensuring that dd will be loved and pitied by all involved.

[Demonboy]

i always wonder if it crosses the poster's mind that others on their own team might actually read this post that is on a national board, which makes that ice even thinnner...

Ditto. I should have added a number 6: the poster typically posts with such specificity that anyone remotely related to the team or organization will know exactly who it is that is posting (can anyone say "pole barn"?), virtually ensuring that dd will be loved and pitied by all involved.

I'm sorry. That's funny any way you slice it.

Also Skarp don't forget the pièce de résistance. The inevitable inclusion of all softball accomplishments of said Princess.

[Skarp]

i always wonder if it crosses the poster's mind that others on their own team might actually read this post that is on a national board, which makes that ice even thinnner...

Ditto. I should have added a number 6: the poster typically posts with such specificity that anyone remotely related to the team or organization will know exactly who it is that is posting (can anyone say "pole barn"?), virtually ensuring that dd will be loved and pitied by all involved.

I'm sorry. That's funny any way you slice it.

Also Skarp don't forget the pièce de résistance. The inevitable inclusion of all softball accomplishments of said Princess.

Too true. Let's call that number 7, which accounts for number 8: the posts are usually so long that you have to scroll down a ways on your 22" monitor just to read them from start to finish.

I can see that I should have put more thought into my list.

[Cannonball]

Skarp,

The good thing is that, whenever this occurs, there will always be that expert or omnipresent being whom is handy to set them straight.

[Skarp]

Skarp,

The good thing is that, whenever this occurs, there will always be that expert or omnipresent being whom is handy to set them straight.

Along with the occasional nimblenuts who actually does indulge their self-pity.

[Sam]

Skarp,

The good thing is that, whenever this occurs, there will always be that expert or omnipresent being whom is handy to set them straight.

Thank you. I don't consider myself to be omnipresent as much as omniknowledgeable...

[mozzy]

After reading these posts, it occurred to me that I NEED an avatar...

[Cannonball]

Skarp,

The good thing is that, whenever this occurs, there will always be that expert or omnipresent being whom is handy to set them straight.

Thank you. I don't consider myself to be omnipresent as much as omniknowledgeable...

omnniknowledgeable? Quick, what am I thinking? ... YUP!