When did people forget to have fun?

I frequently update my MSN Messenger name to reflect my pet peeve of the day. A recent one was “People who lie and cheat in a FUNDRAISING dodgeball tournament taking place in a CHURCH”. It was a co-ed tournament that became highly competitive very quickly. Most of the men needed only about one game to turn into little whiny cheating boys.

How can an activity as simple and insignificant as dodgeball stripe them of everything to leave them only with their basic instincts? Four referees per court were not enough to keep the players honest. They cried, complained, refused to admit they were out, and cheated in any way possible. I’ve never been so peeved after a day of volunteering. Somehow, as a ref with a whistle, I almost lost my voice from screaming at players and lost all patience for any amount of arguing, begging, or whinning. Dodgeball is supposed to be fun. Fundraising is supposed to be high-spirited. A friend of mine suggested I felt that way because I’m very committed to the fundraising efforts of our volleyball club. But that wasn’t it. It’s that I have always been very concerned with doing right, being responsible, and being fair. Seeing the chaos around me and having to do most of the mitigation myself wore me out even though we were only there for 5 hours. I’m sure some may have perceived me to be a complete b**ch that day with my strict no-nonsense behaviour and felt badly about it until I remembered it was the cheaters and whiners that made me be as harsh as I had to be that day. The thought of it makes me evener angrier.

It’s moments like these that show you someone’s real character. To see how easily they abandon their morals for something as trivial as a fundraising dodgeball game made me lose respect (or confirm my lack of respect) for some people. And seeing how my friends understood the purpose of the day and treated it as a game and no more, I know that I surround myself with decent people and that they can keep you sane in a world of chaos.