A few months ago, we all heard about Mayor Bloomberg wanting to ban Big Gulps and other soda drinks. Of course there was a huge uproar; after all, this is still a free country. While this craziness was going on, we had the President and others wanting to ban certain guns...(which we all know that the “certain” would have eventually turned in to “all”…). Bloomberg needed more attention, so he said he wants to ban public use of tobacco in New York City. Pretty much needless to say, that didn’t happen either.

 

 Now I’ve seen that the Kentucky High School Athletic Association has banned post game handshakes in all sports, justifying it by saying that there have been two dozen fights in the handshake line over the past couple of years. So instead of teaching them to be good sports, they’re just going to take it out altogether.

 

 My parents taught me that you shouldn’t drink too much soda. Too much will make you sick, and if you drink it too often it can give you health issues. So I listened. I don’t use tobacco products in public or private, but I know people who do. Tobacco usage in public is just another freedom Americans have. Yes, it’s not good for you, but people don’t need some mayor to tell them that. No, I don’t like to smell it, but sometimes you just gotta deal with it. Now to the banning of handshakes. Ahhh, sportsmanship. Do some people just not teach their kids to not fight over a game? It’s supposed to be a game, not a game of fights. When I was a gymnast, we never had handshakes after our competitions. It just wasn’t something we did; but we did pass each other after, and we had awards ceremonies together all in the same room. In 12 years of competing, I never saw a fight, and I never got in one. Now this is also a big, huge, group of girls we’re talking about. Just because girls don’t usually physically fight, we do “catfight” or get mad. All through the years of competing, I never saw any of us get mad at each other. We were taught sportsmanship by our parents and/or coaches. My question is, what has happened to the teaching in homes, or even in schools? I was taught to not drink too much soda, that smoking is bad for you, and that just because you lose a game or competition it doesn’t mean you throw a hissy fit and punch someone. Where are the teachers? Where are the parents? Someone needs to teach kids the meaning of things, and it just doesn’t seem to be happening. Until we can teach our generations to not need nannies their entire life, this will most likely keep happening.