Lucky
I was complaining to myself and getting all testy with my family this morning because I had to spend all my Saturday morning grading student papers, but then later, it occurred to me how lucky I am to have that be the least of my worries.
This is partly because, I think, I got to have so much fun this afternoon playing softball and drinking beer with people I know and not only that, we won both games!
Plus, right after I gave up watching the Pens on laptop TV because they were down 3-0, the same score they lost game five in Pittsburgh on Thursday, they rallied and took game six from cross-state rivals, the FLyers, 5-3, at home in the City of Brotherly Love.
So why should standing in front of a computer, in my own home, drinking coffee and reading the work of students, who are all putting themselves out there in the name of achieving some goal, be construed as a chore, anyway? What else would I have been doing? Surfing the net? Standing over the sink eating crackers? Writing this piece or one predictably like it?
If I could put things in better perspective and remember that for tens of thousands of years of human history, nearly everything I have to be annoyed about was utterly outside the experience of such beings, then I’d be a lot more patient with myself and my loves ones. I’d see more clearly how ill-equipped human beings are for solving human problems.
On the other hand, softball’s fun and all—as today’s first games of the season attest to—but it’s sure a lot more fun when you win, or at least when you play well and don’t get hurt.
One of our players, JD, slid into second and broke his ankle, his tibia, and tore up some tendons in his leg, whatever privilege that is, no luck there, although at least he was called safe.
This is partly because, I think, I got to have so much fun this afternoon playing softball and drinking beer with people I know and not only that, we won both games!
Plus, right after I gave up watching the Pens on laptop TV because they were down 3-0, the same score they lost game five in Pittsburgh on Thursday, they rallied and took game six from cross-state rivals, the FLyers, 5-3, at home in the City of Brotherly Love.
So why should standing in front of a computer, in my own home, drinking coffee and reading the work of students, who are all putting themselves out there in the name of achieving some goal, be construed as a chore, anyway? What else would I have been doing? Surfing the net? Standing over the sink eating crackers? Writing this piece or one predictably like it?
If I could put things in better perspective and remember that for tens of thousands of years of human history, nearly everything I have to be annoyed about was utterly outside the experience of such beings, then I’d be a lot more patient with myself and my loves ones. I’d see more clearly how ill-equipped human beings are for solving human problems.
On the other hand, softball’s fun and all—as today’s first games of the season attest to—but it’s sure a lot more fun when you win, or at least when you play well and don’t get hurt.
One of our players, JD, slid into second and broke his ankle, his tibia, and tore up some tendons in his leg, whatever privilege that is, no luck there, although at least he was called safe.
posted by Professor Dave at 9:23 PM
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