Alexandra Bogdanovic's Blog: That's life... - Posts Tagged "conduct"

I don't care if I sound like an old fart -- or worse. I don't care if this sounds self-righteous or sanctimonious.
I've come to the conclusion that I am sick and tired of bad behavior. In fact, I'm fed up with it. Enough is enough already.
Would-be politicians are celebrated for name-calling and Twitter rants. Some of them even seem to have cult followings. Hmm..... to whom could I possibly be alluding?
Spoiled, self-centered, egocentric professional athletes gloat when they win and sulk when they lose. When they are confronted about their behavior they continue to act like spoiled brats instead of grown men.
Let's talk about what happens on the gridiron. In professional football, dirty hits are a dime a dozen. I can't help but wonder if the players have forgotten that the game they play is dangerous enough without the blatant fouls. Apparently these guys don't care if their own brains are scrambled and they don't seem to give a damn if they permanently maim or cripple anyone else. At this point I am afraid that the only thing that might stop their reprehensible conduct is a death on the field -- but I pray it never comes to that.
Don't even get me started about the athletes who use performance enhancing drugs. Oh, I am sorry, I misspoke. I meant to say, don't even get me started about the athletes who allegedly use performance enhancing drugs.
There is something worse than all of this bad behavior and that's an apologist. Yes, there are actually people out there who are more than willing to condone and make excuses for poor behavior.
Well, I have a newsflash for all of you. There is no excuse! It is not OK! It is not acceptable!
At some point, everyone has to be held accountable for their actions. Everyone has to be prepared for the consequences -- no matter how unpleasant they may be.
Personally, I learned about actions and consequences when I was very young. In fact, it was a lesson I've never forgotten.
I was in nursery school, or maybe kindergarten. My favorite toy back then was a green plastic squirt gun. My mother let me have it on one condition -- that I would never, ever, under any circumstances, point it at anyone. Of course that didn't make sense, because it was a water pistol, but Mom didn't care.
To make a long story short, I didn't play by the rules. I filled my squirt gun up with water, and promptly squirted one of my classmates with it. My victim happened to be a little boy who didn't speak English very well, but he definitely found a way to let me know he didn't appreciate being squirted. He bit me!
Because he bit me hard enough to break the skin, my mom had to come to school and take me to the doctor. I was in a lot of pain, and of course I expected Mom to take my side. She didn't though. And to add insult to injury, she confiscated my favorite water pistol.
She also hid it -- and it remained hidden until we moved more than 20 years later.
Until next time, "That's life..."