Upon hearing these words, one of the first-year players began to cry. Just as everyone’s cry button was about to get switched on, the coach went up to the first-year, pulled back his arm like an Olympic discus thrower, and smacked him across the face. The kid went flying and slammed into the lockers with a great big crash! The rest of us shuddered at the sound. In a terribly calm tone, the coach said to no one in particular, “Never cry in front of others. You boys live your lives surrounded by enemies. Shedding tears before the enemy is the same as begging for pity. The same as admitting
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This illuminates the the group mindset, that of you are showing "weakness" that reflects on your nationality as a whole. "Don't cry in front of anyone" impacted me personally. Seeing that there is so much of my dad in these books. I read them to understand him that much more
