Secret 21…I’m not much of a good sport
Posted under 30 Secrets in 30 Days
Here I am, throwing my toys out of the pram yet again. I’m not grimacing with fury (for a change), but with pain…turns out I’d been wildly optimistic in terms of calculating the likelihood of being able to squeeeeeeeeze my backside in to the pushchair. Spud’s arse in to pushchair does not go.
I’m ashamed to admit it but my rather quick temper and competitive nature can mean that I’m not much of a good sport. I play to win, end of story. Fortunately I am hopeless at all competitive sport so the world is generally spared the worst of my lashing out these days.
To my eternal shame I once stomped off the rounders field in a rage during a match against another school. My cheeks are actually burning as I write this by the way. There were very few girls at my school, as it had only just gone co-ed when I started there. There were upsides to this (mainly involving an endless stream of boyfriends, hurrah) and downsides, the main one being that if you were female then you were ‘in the team’ for every single sport regardless of your talent or interest. I hated it, but the numbers were against me…there simply weren’t enough girls to choose from.
Back to the rounders match. I was the bowler which was the position I could do the least damage in as I can’t catch. Turns out I can’t throw either and after endless ‘no balls’ with the other side racking up freebie points I’d had enough. Off the field I stomped yelling “I’m not playing anymore!” over my shoulder. I was 15. FIFTEEN! Not 5, but 15 years old. Oh…the…shame.
Worse, there were no ‘reserves’ on the team of course (not enough girls) and the match came to a grinding halt while I had a tantrum. After a bit of negotiation I was persuaded to do ‘The Walk of Shame’ and return to the field, head hung low, cheeks aflame and tear stained. I proceeded to bowl a million more ‘no balls’ but the umpire relaxed the rules and ignored most of them. Poor bloke probably feared I might do for him with a rounders bat if he crossed me.
As a child I would tantrum and howl so badly if I didn’t win a party game that I was frequently sent to my room during my own birthday parties. Eventually my mother gave in and would have a prize for the real winner, and another for me to shut me up. I could go on…but I’m not sure my pride can take it. I have put myself in the Grudge Book.
Diggy having a tantrum...proof that what goes around comes around
Mind you, my mother was so competitive that she cheated at Trivial Pursuit. One year we played TP after dinner each evening on holiday. It was getting pretty feisty and Mum was getting a bit narked at her poor ‘cheese’ rate. She was caught red handed one night, after we’d all gone to bed, REVISING the cards and answers. Very, very shabby.
I can’t believe you don’t have a stiff upper lip and all that jolly good fun chaps attitude. You don’t appear to be a toy thrower… I always wonder what people would do if I just threw a wobbler as we used to call it??????? and here’s the thing… American’s are not such big fit pitchers as the Brits… surprising innit???
Oh yes, ‘wobblers’ is a regular part of the vernacular around these parts. I am a verteran wobbler thrower, arms and legs going, purple in the face from not breathing etc.
My experience of Americans, surprisingly extensive, is that they are actually so much more reserved and emotionally polite than us Brits!
xx
ha! ha!…and love the shoes!
I’m an American, maybe I break the mold, but I’m not emotionally polite when it comes to losing. I am VERY competitive and can get quite snarky and rude if I lose at anything…from sports, to cards, to bets.
Great post, I love the photos!
As a kid I would regularly cry if I lost at “kerplunk”. I had my father so well trained that at the threat of tears he would say “let her win” which my mother would violently disagree with. Resulting in parental argument. Sigh – happy family memories :-)
My default response when accused of being a bad loser- “what do you expect? I haven’t had very much practice!” I think hating to lose is a fabulous quality actually.
LOL.
What a cute photo…gorgeous even when crying. You are blessed.
The photographs are hilarious. It must be tempting to make Digby cry; he looks so adorable with those red cheeks.
I would say that I’m not competitive at all; my friends would claim otherwise.
You are making self-deprecation into a competitive sport with this series of posts.
; ) He is adorable! So are you!
xo
i pitched a fit during a card game last winter and got up and left the table. there was lots of tension in the air after that and i kind of enjoyed it. but the others were cheating.
i think your next one should be an attack on your mailman, who is clearly hoarding your mail-order goodies. :-)
love those shoes, by the way. :-)
I can only see those green shoes in the picture! Love them!
I’m very competitive too, but everyone else in my family is so they never let me win! So not fair! I’m not playing anymore! :)
fab little shoes! and I’m very relieved to see I’m not the only person who takes photos of my toddler having a tantrum – ha ha!
The pics are great and I love those little teal shoes too. Remind me never to play a game with yoU! lol