Some people suck
This weekend our cub scout pack had its annual pinewood derby. This in an event where cub scouts (with lots of help from parents) build a car out of a block of pine and race it. We determine an overall winner and crown that scout champion. There are plenty of other awards and everyone gets a medal just for entering a car.
Now, for those not familiar with it, there are rules as to size and wieght of cars, types of axles you can use, what you can and cannot do with tires, etc. It can get very competitive (at least among the parents) and there are those out there that would illegally modify a car to win.
This being said, we were in the middle of racing on Saturday when it was discovered that some of the cars did not meet all the rules we published, specifically that all parts for the car were to come from the official Pinewood Derby car kit sold by the Boy Scouts store. Mind you, we had finished the first round of racing when we discovered this. Our choices were to disqualify at least 4 cars in the middle of the race and really dissapoint a several 6-9 year old boys or chalk it up as the fault of the inspectors for not catching it and move on. Since we didn't want to crush any of the scouts, we decided to move on.
Of course, it turns out that one of the questioned cars won the derby. Not only one, but dominated. Like won every heat it was in except one. Of course, a couple of parents came to us at the end of the race and gently accused the parent that built the car of cheating. "That car looks like it may have violated the rules. I thought all the wheels had to be the same." That sort of thing.
This wouldn't have been to bad. The parent in question was getting a little ribbing and blew it off. However, today I found out that some adults, ADULTS MIND YOU, walked up to his 8 year old son and told him he cheated TO HIS FACE! I really cannot believe some people. Come on, it was just a fucking race for God's sake. Will it ruin some kid's world that he didn't win? All the scouts I saw looked like they were having a good time and didn't care that one car kept winning all the time. They enjoyed watching their car race, win or lose.
I understand being fair and all but at that point there was a no win situation. To take it out on a kid is just being a baby. I'm sorry, who's supposed to be teaching the kids sportsmanship? It really makes me seethe just thinking about it. I know one thing, if I caught someone accusing my kid of cheating in a situation like that, I'd have smacked that person. Some people are just assholes.
Now, for those not familiar with it, there are rules as to size and wieght of cars, types of axles you can use, what you can and cannot do with tires, etc. It can get very competitive (at least among the parents) and there are those out there that would illegally modify a car to win.
This being said, we were in the middle of racing on Saturday when it was discovered that some of the cars did not meet all the rules we published, specifically that all parts for the car were to come from the official Pinewood Derby car kit sold by the Boy Scouts store. Mind you, we had finished the first round of racing when we discovered this. Our choices were to disqualify at least 4 cars in the middle of the race and really dissapoint a several 6-9 year old boys or chalk it up as the fault of the inspectors for not catching it and move on. Since we didn't want to crush any of the scouts, we decided to move on.
Of course, it turns out that one of the questioned cars won the derby. Not only one, but dominated. Like won every heat it was in except one. Of course, a couple of parents came to us at the end of the race and gently accused the parent that built the car of cheating. "That car looks like it may have violated the rules. I thought all the wheels had to be the same." That sort of thing.
This wouldn't have been to bad. The parent in question was getting a little ribbing and blew it off. However, today I found out that some adults, ADULTS MIND YOU, walked up to his 8 year old son and told him he cheated TO HIS FACE! I really cannot believe some people. Come on, it was just a fucking race for God's sake. Will it ruin some kid's world that he didn't win? All the scouts I saw looked like they were having a good time and didn't care that one car kept winning all the time. They enjoyed watching their car race, win or lose.
I understand being fair and all but at that point there was a no win situation. To take it out on a kid is just being a baby. I'm sorry, who's supposed to be teaching the kids sportsmanship? It really makes me seethe just thinking about it. I know one thing, if I caught someone accusing my kid of cheating in a situation like that, I'd have smacked that person. Some people are just assholes.
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Lois Lane