Tuesday, October 30th, 2007 | Author: jason
Being the product of several ‘got picked last’ events, I can certainly see some of this ringing true in my life. I think I’ve grown/matured out of most of them, but it’s still fascinating.
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Interesting article, but it tends to wander.
The point about the distinction between the Aussie “mate” and American “friend” I think is well made and is true. Americans (and probably those of other cultures, although I can’t be certain) do lack for real friends who are there no matter what, people who have your back, etc.
However, the way the point is made does make me wonder. The author seems to place a preeminence upon physical, group activities (mostly sports) and seems to look down upon those who, when picked last, decide to get into more geeky pursuits (comics, D&D) or intellectual pursuits. It’s like the author is doing the same thing that he condemns later in the article, redefining what’s cool so that he can be at the top of the pecking order.
You may be on to something, but I think he’s trying to draw out a deeper point… there certainly is a feeling of ‘cognoscenti’, the exclusive, in the know, snobbery which pervades some activities he is describing. I’ve been party to many conversations among nerds who’s sole point, in retrospect, is to show that ‘we nerds have chosen the better path’. We’re all too sophisticated to use such terms to describe it, but that attitude is there below.
The article does wander a bit and so I think the writer’s point[s] got a little lost. I think the over-arching message he was trying to get across by repeating the sports example is that a person shouldn’t give up in despair due to embarassment. But rather, one should strive to improve oneself and to become an ‘asset to the team’. This is a concept that can easily be applied to many other areas of life beyond the rugby pitch and I think that’s why he chose sports as his central example.
I think he was trying to encourage people to have the strength of character to “get back on that horse” to use an American saying. I don’t think it’s all that important WHICH horse you’re getting back on.
Plus, he says later in the article that he was a punk rock kid. So I don’t think he was really panning D&D, etc. but rather he was panning the insecurity born motivation of dominance lurking behind the eyes of those who strive to become the Dungeon Master just so they can reduce your living construct to -0- hit points.