By Staff
After this weekend, the winter sports season will officially come to an end.
Our three basketball teams were all defeated in district play this week, and our area wrestlers will conclude their seasons at the individual state wrestling finals, which are taking place as we speak.
I've seen my fair share of high schools in southwest lower Michigan since joining the Star over a year ago.
I've met some very nice people at these schools including athletic directors, coaches and consession stand volunteers. It's nice to see so many people are willing to get to know complete strangers.
On the other hand, there are people who could care less.
I've also met some very negative people. People who are worried about nothing but themselves and who could care less who you are.
This past week I attended a high school (I won't say the name, lets just say it's by a big lake) for a district basketball game. I had called this school earlier in the day to let them know I was going to be there.
Well, I will say I made the mistake of not coming prepared. I did not bring my press pass (which has been missing for over two months, but I have never had an issue with not having it). But then again I didn't think anything of it because the school knew I was coming.
So, I get to the door, tell the ticket person that I am with the Niles Daily Star, and they looked straight at me and laughed.
I politely told them I had called the school earlier that day to tell them I was coming. (You see, most schools make a list around tournament time of any media that will be in attendance, that way they know how many to expect and know which ones will be there).
This person proceeded to give me this weird look and said, “Well, I can't let you in you could just be anyone saying you're with a newspaper.”
Fine, I thought, I can understood their situation, I don't have a press pass, but do they really have to be this rude?
After trying to figure out if they had a list with my name on it, I asked to see the athletic director.
A lady next to the table said “I am the athletic secretary.” “Well, then it was you I talked to earlier today,” I said. “No, I don't remember that,” she relied.
Ok, if she was the athletic office secretary, it was her I talked to. Either she really didn't remember, or she was just covering herself from any problems.
I would have just paid the $5 to get in, however, I rarely ever take money into the games with me because I really have no where to keep it. Plus I have lost money in the past. So, needless to say, I didn't have any money on me.
Well, at this point I was getting a little bit upset and I called my father to see if he was at the game. He wasn't, so I figured I was just going to have to go home.
Ok, that was enough. I had been nice to this person, I had not done or said anything negative to her, but I am not going to let her continue to talk to me like I am a worthless person. “Do I look like I have a high school child?” I said. “Could you just get your athletic director for me?”
At this point I am just about in tears, my dad is on the other line of my cell phone yelling at this lady who can't even hear him, so I was just going to go home. Then the athletic director finally came, I explained the situation and that I was wrong for not bringing my pass. He was very nice and let me in. Let me tell you, it felt very good walking right past this person!
As I said, I can completely understand why someone would be skeptical about the sitaution, especially since I came in without a pass. But, is there really a reason to be so rude? This person was no different than me, yet acted like I was the scum of the earth.
Oh well, life goes on. And in the end I can smile and be thankful that I was raised better than that!