Locked Outside

(thanks to kasport.com and vagabondish.com for the images, respectively)

As the Olympics progress, everything else doesn't seem to "progress". I shouldn't worry about the world's business, but I'm still irritated by it. The IOC is just trying to avoid embarrassing the host country, for the sake of peace and humility. I understand throwing an investigation itself is enough to humiliate China, whether it turns out good or bad (because if a situation is so bad to the point where an investigation is needed, it must be pretty horrible), but things still need to be resolved.

That's why I absolutely hate humiliation (whose side am I on?). Humiliation for the right of everyone else—that's okay. Humiliation for one's miserable purposes—that's wrong. Who doesn't love seeing villains in shows and movies get mortified? Certainly, you wouldn't want the innocent person be the one that suffers.

My aunt (no, another one this time) once recounted to me stories of her teenage days. She was new at her high school—she knew no one, and no one knew her. Her English wasn't great, and she hardly could follow her teachers' orders. Then, P.E. arrived. It was time for them to run. My aunt ran, as they had supposedly instructed. Around they went, jogging around the entire block in the vicinity of the high school (which, may I say, is pretty giant). She started to lag behind, along with some other students. By the time she was on her last lap back, it was only her and another girl, jogging for their lives (more like grades). Suddenly, the door to the school closed, and once my aunt had arrived, there wasn't an entrance back into the school. Everyone else was already inside, and as they looked out, they held their stomachs and laughed and gagged at how stupid my aunt and the girl was. She was absolutely humiliated...and tired. She managed to gasp back all the air she had lost, but the girl next to her—well, she collapsed (no, for real). The school eventually had to call the ambulance to check on the girl, who was completely knocked out. Turns out, there was an additional instruction—run 3 huge laps within 20 minutes, or be locked out. For those who missed the memo, too bad.

I really cannot understand how the school can do such a deed. For one thing, pushing a person to run in a set amount of time (a very tight amount of time, that is) is ridiculous. Unless this was for the track and field team or cross-country team or something, this is unreasonable. Since it's a normal P.E. class, you should allow the students to run at their limits, and give them verbal support. Soon enough, they'll improve as they go on.

Secondly, closing the door in the failing person's face isn't going to help their self-esteem, or improve anything whatsoever. Your students are laughing at the humiliation of another student—does that seem human?

Anyways, my point is, being locked outside of yourself is going to make things worse. You're not controlling who you are, or what kind of person you are. And you know what—if the other people won't stop hurting you, they'll just get hurt themselves someday. Isn't that right, Miss Karma? ;-)

Aid the rest...and gain a lot.

-the clam.