Klarinet Archive - Posting 000588.txt from 2003/02

From: b1rite@-----. Rite)
Subj: [kl] Pomegranate juice! [was Music vs. language --- school cutbacks]
Date: Fri, 21 Feb 2003 15:13:34 -0500

<><> Elizabeth=A0Berry
For crying out loud, practically nobody likes PE!

<LOL, Elizabeth, but ....>

Some children (and some adults) **do** enjoy PE and some of them **do**
pursue athletics as a career.

This is the heart of Storr's thesis --- namely, not to slice away a
large chunk of human existence as if it were completely separate from
the remainder of ourselves. All of our thinking and nervous system is
interconnected, and while we can't afford to do (or teach) every aspect
of everything, we shouldn't discarding every aspect of one important
sector either.

So why do I include pomegranate juice in my subject line?

When I was a kid in PE, one of my classmates refused to do calisthenics
(especially the crab walk!), he refused to shag balls, he walked his
laps instead of running them, etc etc etc. He was a nice guy,
physically active and capable, friendly, good grades, etc; but he just
wouldn't 'get with it' in PE class.

One day, the coach screamed out in unfeigned anger:

"Henry, _WHAT_ is your problem !?!?!? Is there *something else*
<menacing glower> you'd rather be doing right now?"

"Sure," Henry replied, "I'd rather be drinking pomegranate juice."

"POMEGRANATE JUICE !! Don't smart off to me! You don't even know
what pomegranate juice tastes like!"

"Yes, sir, I do."

"Prove it! Tell everyone here what pomegranate juice tastes like!"

"Sir, can I get my lunch pail?"

....the next part of this tale is probably obvious. He retrieved his
lunch pail, opened it up, and offered a bottle of pomegranate juice to
the coach.

The coach took a swig, and after a pause, he said: "You know what,
Henry.... this doesn't taste half bad. But PE is part of this school's
program. Now that I've drunk your pomegranate juice, how about if you
play some basketball for me?"

....anyway, somewhere in all of this, there is buried a moral ---
namely, don't push kids to over focus on one segment of life. (There
might be fewer wars if everybody believed and practiced this.)

Cheers,
Bill

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