Are rules for fools?
My son took his first strikeout yesterday pretty well. Walked calmly back to the dugout and went about his business. His second strikeout hurt worse, mainly because his older brother was the pitcher on the other team. Yet still he maintained his composure, even as his brother gave him a sarcastic wave on his way back to the dugout. But the third one was too much. He did his best Junior Ortiz and smashed the fence and then threw his bat, dangerously, across the dugout.
Like the fine state of Texas, justice in my dugout is swift and true. I relegated him to the end of the bench, loudly, for the rest of the game. Baseball’s version of the penalty box. I sat as far away from him as I could and let him marinate in the bitter juices of exile.
Keep your head about you. Maintain poise when things don’t go your way. Don’t throw large metal objects near my head. That kind of thing. Life lessons at 11 years old are pretty straightforward.
Life lessons in your 40s are not. Benching him meant we didn’t have enough players to take the field the next inning. So the main thing the other kids learned was that their coach can’t count. And, in all honesty, how happy would you be if you K’ed three times? Probably about as happy as if you got dumped by your wife, or worse, got a surprise bill from the IRS. I’d probably throw a bat too.
But the rules are, no throwing bats.
Today another son asked me to take him fishing. There’s a small pond near the house with a clearly posted “No Fishing” sign. So brazenly he cast his line and WHHAAPP a spring bass devoured the lure. Success! But the resident soon spotted us and chased us off. Worth it!
All of this begs a question about rules. Should we teach our kids to follow them or to ignore them? Rules guys can’t stand rule breakers. But rule breakers have more fun and are probably richer than the rules guys who can’t stand them. It’s a real quandary. The best I can come up with is this: ignore all rules not likely to cause you or others a concussion.
