Hearing this just really really bugged me…

medium_mompicAfter a recent feis, a friend of mine sent me a message on Facebook that kinda, sorta, really really irritated me.  I like ‘smack-talk’ just as much as the next guy, but I think this goes beyond way good-hearted ribbing, especially from someone who teaches our children.

I really debated as to whether to post this or not, but it irritated me so much that this attitude is out there, I decided to post it hoping the people involved might see this and catch the hint. The message from my friend is posted below with any identifiable information about the teachers and my friend removed. There is a bit of language, sorry, quoting verbatim.

‘[the teachers] were standing behind me watching one of their girls during the TJ. It was the last dance she[the teachers girl] needs a 1st in to move up to 500. When she was done, [one of the teachers] told her parents, “that was totally first place. All the other dancers weren’t worth shit.” I was so ticked I turned around and let [the teacher] know that MY dancer was one of the girls out there and [the teacher] smugly shrugged and said “truth hurts”‘

The good news is my friends dancer placed higher than the girl referred to by the teacher. Good for my friend and her dancer, not good for the other dancer. I don’t know the other dancer, and I don’t want to wish ill will on any dancer, even those competing against TGC, and it is not fair to that dancer that my friend rejoiced in her lower placement, because her teacher was being an asshat. And I am not faulting my friend, I would have felt the same way.

Really don’t know where I was going with this, or what outcome I expected from posting this, but if these are your teachers, it might be time to consider a move to a new school. And if they are your teachers and you think their actions were acceptable, go ahead and stay at that school, but just think of the message you are sending your children. Oh and don’t worry, karma is like Santa, it will find you wherever you live.

Oh, and don’t bother asking me for the identity of anyone in the story. I have tried to ‘anonymously shame’ here to give people the benefit of the doubt. You decide whether they deserve that benefit or not.

6 Comments

debra sweeney

If a teacher is willing to say such unkind words in public then what does she say to her students in class? Words are very powerful and are a reflection of inner strength. What I learned from my mother growing up is that if you cannot say something nice DON’T SAY IT and certainly not in a crowd where you do not know who is listening.

Reply
What The Feis

Concur Debra… I am not the most politically correct person, but I respect people’s feelings, and if I realize I have done something offensive, I attempt not to make it worse. And if I found a role model for my child was acting in that way, well, I may be even less politically correct than normal, but not in public ;)

Reply
Sarah York

This exact same thing happened to me at an Ohio feis last year. It was Prizewinner getting to PC but it was essentially the exact same thing except in addition to the rude comment about the other girls there was also a terrible comment about the judge. I was standing right in front of them and also turned around. Our TC would have said “that was your personal best, you should be proud, you definitely danced well enough to deserve a first, now we will just have to hope the judge feels that way too.” So to hear what I heard… I was just appalled, but mostly I felt sorry for the dancer to be maturing under that role model, how sad.

Reply
Mike Basinski

That is really disturbing. I know that ID is competitive, but there is absolutely no reason for that kind of behavior.

Reply
Chris O'Hearn

This happened at OIR. TCs from another school openly and loudly bashing our school and TC when one of our teams were on the stage. I guess this occurred at mid-American feis? Not noticed before but will keep my eyes and ears open when feising in that area. I would say the same thing to the TC probably even it weren’t my kid they were talking about. I wouldn’t care who they were or how important they think they are. It is unprofessional.

Reply

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *