That's What Its All About!

No Hokey Pokey today my peeps. Nope, no time to put my backside in and to shake it all about. I've got issues. (No gasping or snarky comments please - like you didn't know.) It seems that life is not fair. Its true and I tell Mr. 5 this. Every. Single. Flipping. Day. Its not fair and guess what, its never going to BE fair and dammit, you'd better learn to man up and play the game, because like it or not, its not what you know, its who you know - well, its also what you know but knowing people makes a big difference. And, you really do have to be better, bigger, faster, and stronger. You have to play to win because if you don't, someone else will and you won't get the cheese. Lets take this little gem, for example.



A California school system WAS giving color-coded ID tags to students based on their test scores. This ID system allowed kids with higher test scores certain privileges such as discounts at school sporting events and certain select retailers. Now, my first instinct was to be pissed that the State of California would take away some incentive for kids to work hard. Actually, its still my gut reaction as long as there are some stipulations attached. See, the fact of the matter is that when we do well at our jobs, as adults, we receive a raise, a bonus or some kind of incentive to continue our hard work. Its what pushes people to do well at their jobs. We depend on that motivational strategy to keep the work force going, don't we? If you suck, you get demoted, miss the raise, or fired. However, in school, we would hate to hurt your tender little feelings, so we'll just pretend like you're all equal and you're all smart enough, and good enough, and doggone it, people like you. And then when you graduate, if you manage to muster enough reason to continue on, we'll throw you to the sharks in college where you're a face who has to play the game we like to call life.

That being said, there are exceptions. I know there are. I know there are kids who aren't test takers. I know there are kids who, despite obscene amounts of motivation, they WILL NOT be inspired to work hard in school because they have things they would rather be doing. I know there are parents who will make excuse, after excuse, after God-forsaken excuse, about why their kid can't do something or should be exempt and to them, I say "Shame on You" for killing your kid's changes of leaning the value of some healthy competition. Yeah parents, its OK for your kids to be bad at stuff and its OK for them to fail some tests or to have kids make fun of them. It sucks! And it teaches them how to respond, how to find the steel in their spine and stand up a little taller next time. It teaches them to work and to treat other kids better. *Serious ranting issues right now.*

So, please... PLEASE let your kids have or NOT have special privileges based on how hard they work and if they don't make it, teach them to work harder next time because its a dog eat dog world out there! Or shark attacks, alligators, whatever. Its vicious and its not going to get any better.
*End Rant*