When i was in junior high, i *did* actually get participant awards and wasn’t even there (i hate excersize, so i showed up for roll call then went to the bathroom… at the mall). The next day when i walked in the teacher handed me a blue (4th place) ribbon for every event i had signed up for and skipped out on.
I had a huge rant when I singed my stepson up for baseball and found out they did that. Not only annoying my wife but showing that I was getting old by saying “Back when I played ball you had to EARN a trophy, not this pansy ass everybody gets one BS” I am starting to sound as bad as Red from that 70’s show
I can’t help but be reminded of this: http://www.bunicomic.com/2010/07/16/buni-86/
If it’s genuinely not the winning, but the taking part, why do they give different medals to the winners?
Its all part of the “Oh, we cant have anyone feel bad in a friggin competition” B.S. Now, I HATED sports as a kid, so I sure as hell wouldnt sign up for any, and the few times I had to, I didnt expect to get a prize just for showing up. I sucked at sports, and I shouldnt be rewarded for it.
Not that I dont understand the sentiment behind it, I know how much it sucks when you DO try, yet get completely stomped into the dust anyway, but having these kinds of awards satisfies no one.
But isn’t it an achievement just to put down your Xbox controller long enough to do something/anything in the real world? (It would probably be worth only 1 gamer point though.)
I used to go with my buddy who umpired little league games and keep score (yes they didn’t keep score themselves) One time one of the coaches saw I was keeping score and had my buddy “toss me out” of the stands. THEY DIDN’T EVEN KEEP SCORE! Why the heck are we giving awards when we aren’t even keeping score! They just played for an hour then went home…..
So killer. I snorted & giggled out loud and got in trouble in my con call…
Ugh. They even do it with non-sports stuff. I was so bored in school that I was the typical D- student. I went off and read SF and got a TRS-80 all by myself.
Then I did *really* well on some fancy NEA test, so they gave me some generic science award at the end of the year. Only time I ever got any recognition for anything like that. I threw it in the trash.
I think it’s like “stranger” up above commented. The sentiment is that “they” don’t want anyone to feel bad when they lose. Sure, fine, no one likes to lose. BUT…it reflects real life a lot better than being rewarded for just participating.
In real life that doesn’t happen. You don’t get a job by just showing up at an interview. You don’t get a raise for just showing up to work. You have to earn it, by doing your best. And yes, just like in sports, even when you try your best, you don’t always win. There is always someone better than you, eventually.
Not keeping score, and being rewarded for just participating is stupid, namby-pamby thinking, that does indeed NOT reflect real life and is satisfying to NOBODY!!
“You don’t get a raise for just showing up to work.” Well, yes, you do, if you’re a big CEO, and you get a $37,000,000 raise too, even if your company pancakes. That’s why people are in the streets.
Good Point. I meant NORMALLY people don’t get huge raises for showing up. I guess it’s true in the case you mention, and while we’re at it in Pro Sports too. I have never understood why athletes get huge contracts, and then when they suck, they still get the money. I was a welder for years, and if I made bad welds…I got fired (not that that EVER happened). I didn’t get the money anyway. I think it’s ridiculous how athletes are treated and paid. REEE-DIC-YOU-LUSSSS!!!
As silly as it is, I much prefer it to the psychos who treat winning Little League game as being more important than life itself, to the point where they assault umpires when they don’t like the call or try to sneak in kids who are over the age limit.
The only award I ever got in school was for coming in second place in the state on a national math quiz. I got a pin that was smaller than my thumbnail. Now at work I get employee of the month on a regular basis because nobody, but nobody else there can do the analysis needed for the annual reports. And yet my paycheck is even smaller than that math award. I bet if I had some participation awards I’d have a bigger salary. Can I get one for posting here? I’d bet it’d look great on my resume.
Bob (I’m assuming that’s how it’s pronounced), you just tell ’em your ol’ pal Pink Floyd here says you rock. That and a dollar will get you a cup of coffee (at McDonalds, anyways).
I never got why they’re doing this. As a kid I only ever got those participation certificates – and it effing did NOT make me feel better about sucking at sports. “HaHAHA you sucks LOL! Here’s a scrap of paper that reminds you of how hard you suck! Enjoy!” Seriously… WTF?
I had a dream about this comic last night… This evil mafia guy was rnning a sports program for kids, and every time they did a sport, he’d hand out gold medals to all of them, even if they only did it for an hour. But there was one chubby kid who complained when they first all met, and he was always given a much smaller, bronze medal.
This reminds me of when I was signed up by my mother for a season of Special Olympics Basketball. For the record, I’ve never played basketball in my life and I’m not “special” in any way. We practiced and played 3 nights a week for 8 weeks. I sucked but whatever. My team came in 4th out of 12 teams. On the last night, every team got a trophy. Seeing these kids get excited about 12th place made me feel like I’d been part of some nasty hoax. I talked to the kids on the 1st place team and they felt cheated. It was like “1st place? so what?”. When everybody wins, nobody really wins.
Sorry to rant on like this. I just really hate these things.
Discussion (26) ¬
ommmg haha! so true…
Awww – the hat on that gravestone got to me!
😀
This one made me just a little sad.
When i was in junior high, i *did* actually get participant awards and wasn’t even there (i hate excersize, so i showed up for roll call then went to the bathroom… at the mall). The next day when i walked in the teacher handed me a blue (4th place) ribbon for every event i had signed up for and skipped out on.
http://i.imgur.com/gvGkZBL.jpg
I had a huge rant when I singed my stepson up for baseball and found out they did that. Not only annoying my wife but showing that I was getting old by saying “Back when I played ball you had to EARN a trophy, not this pansy ass everybody gets one BS” I am starting to sound as bad as Red from that 70’s show
I can’t help but be reminded of this:
http://www.bunicomic.com/2010/07/16/buni-86/
If it’s genuinely not the winning, but the taking part, why do they give different medals to the winners?
Yeah!!! Buni and Bug finally thogether (sort of)
A clash of the best webcomics on da internets =)
Its all part of the “Oh, we cant have anyone feel bad in a friggin competition” B.S. Now, I HATED sports as a kid, so I sure as hell wouldnt sign up for any, and the few times I had to, I didnt expect to get a prize just for showing up. I sucked at sports, and I shouldnt be rewarded for it.
Not that I dont understand the sentiment behind it, I know how much it sucks when you DO try, yet get completely stomped into the dust anyway, but having these kinds of awards satisfies no one.
If only they could reward the efforts of those who do try. Oh, but then they’d have to actually pay attention…
But isn’t it an achievement just to put down your Xbox controller long enough to do something/anything in the real world? (It would probably be worth only 1 gamer point though.)
A few games do give achievements/trophies for not playing for a while, or even for just pausing the game.
I used to go with my buddy who umpired little league games and keep score (yes they didn’t keep score themselves) One time one of the coaches saw I was keeping score and had my buddy “toss me out” of the stands. THEY DIDN’T EVEN KEEP SCORE! Why the heck are we giving awards when we aren’t even keeping score! They just played for an hour then went home…..
So killer. I snorted & giggled out loud and got in trouble in my con call…
Ugh. They even do it with non-sports stuff. I was so bored in school that I was the typical D- student. I went off and read SF and got a TRS-80 all by myself.
Then I did *really* well on some fancy NEA test, so they gave me some generic science award at the end of the year. Only time I ever got any recognition for anything like that. I threw it in the trash.
I think it’s like “stranger” up above commented. The sentiment is that “they” don’t want anyone to feel bad when they lose. Sure, fine, no one likes to lose. BUT…it reflects real life a lot better than being rewarded for just participating.
In real life that doesn’t happen. You don’t get a job by just showing up at an interview. You don’t get a raise for just showing up to work. You have to earn it, by doing your best. And yes, just like in sports, even when you try your best, you don’t always win. There is always someone better than you, eventually.
Not keeping score, and being rewarded for just participating is stupid, namby-pamby thinking, that does indeed NOT reflect real life and is satisfying to NOBODY!!
“You don’t get a raise for just showing up to work.” Well, yes, you do, if you’re a big CEO, and you get a $37,000,000 raise too, even if your company pancakes. That’s why people are in the streets.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/business/economy/cozy-relationships-and-peer-benchmarking-send-ceos-pay-soaring/2011/09/22/gIQAgq8NJL_story.html
We now return you to your regularly scheduled hilarious Bug comic.
Good Point. I meant NORMALLY people don’t get huge raises for showing up. I guess it’s true in the case you mention, and while we’re at it in Pro Sports too. I have never understood why athletes get huge contracts, and then when they suck, they still get the money. I was a welder for years, and if I made bad welds…I got fired (not that that EVER happened). I didn’t get the money anyway. I think it’s ridiculous how athletes are treated and paid. REEE-DIC-YOU-LUSSSS!!!
As silly as it is, I much prefer it to the psychos who treat winning Little League game as being more important than life itself, to the point where they assault umpires when they don’t like the call or try to sneak in kids who are over the age limit.
The only award I ever got in school was for coming in second place in the state on a national math quiz. I got a pin that was smaller than my thumbnail. Now at work I get employee of the month on a regular basis because nobody, but nobody else there can do the analysis needed for the annual reports. And yet my paycheck is even smaller than that math award. I bet if I had some participation awards I’d have a bigger salary. Can I get one for posting here? I’d bet it’d look great on my resume.
Bob (I’m assuming that’s how it’s pronounced), you just tell ’em your ol’ pal Pink Floyd here says you rock. That and a dollar will get you a cup of coffee (at McDonalds, anyways).
I never got why they’re doing this. As a kid I only ever got those participation certificates – and it effing did NOT make me feel better about sucking at sports. “HaHAHA you sucks LOL! Here’s a scrap of paper that reminds you of how hard you suck! Enjoy!” Seriously… WTF?
I had a dream about this comic last night… This evil mafia guy was rnning a sports program for kids, and every time they did a sport, he’d hand out gold medals to all of them, even if they only did it for an hour. But there was one chubby kid who complained when they first all met, and he was always given a much smaller, bronze medal.
This reminds me of when I was signed up by my mother for a season of Special Olympics Basketball. For the record, I’ve never played basketball in my life and I’m not “special” in any way. We practiced and played 3 nights a week for 8 weeks. I sucked but whatever. My team came in 4th out of 12 teams. On the last night, every team got a trophy. Seeing these kids get excited about 12th place made me feel like I’d been part of some nasty hoax. I talked to the kids on the 1st place team and they felt cheated. It was like “1st place? so what?”. When everybody wins, nobody really wins.
Sorry to rant on like this. I just really hate these things.
I SORT of have a participant award, but it was for doing a full semester of Gymnastics.
Panels 3 and 4… oof.