Blog 4

Yoon Saechow

Dawn Blunk

Transitional English

April 29, 2011

Blog 4: So What’s So Bad About Being So-So?

            In Lisa Wilson Strick’s writing she tries to express that not being perfect at everything you do is not a bad thing.  Strick explains that you should enjoy an activity for what it is even if you are terrible at it instead of being so competitive that you lose sight of fun in the activity.  For myself, I am a very competitive person, but I have to admit I agree with Strick’s point of view. My friends and I are so competitive that we get pretty aggressive; taunting and name calling.  After reading Strick’s essay it made think how I had forgotten to enjoy an activity for the fun of it.  I recalled how one of my friends was mistreated by other friends and me when we played basketball, but he didn’t show us the same attitude when we played his sport.  Being so competitive can push people away, so just learn how to have fun.

            A few years ago one of my friends named Ramiro, didn’t know how to play basketball, but all the other friends and me never cared to teach him how to play.  We were so competitive that we just wanted to win, but Ramiro was just there playing for fun.  Pushing, shoving and elbows flying this was how aggressive the game of basketball was getting for us.  What were we going to win if we won the game of basketball among friends?  Ramiro told me, “Why you guys so serious? Why don’t you just have fun?  If it’s going to be like this I don’t want to join to play basketball with you guys or any other sport again.”  The next time we played he didn’t show up.  A few months of rejecting our invites, I spoke to Ramiro and asked him why he’s not showing up and what would he want to go play and he said,”Fύtbol, and I’ll teach you guys how to play and try to have fun, who cares who wins.”  We all agreed and we played and had a great time, not knowing how to play.  For once instead of having our war paint on our faces we all had a smile and had fun like we were kids in elementary. Being competitive is not worth losing a great friend over, but being competitive is not a bad thing if you know when to be and not to be so competitive.