I witnessed something this evening that will stay with me (unfortunately) for a long time.
It was a wonderful winter Friday night of high school basketball, and the only thing that would make it better would be a great rivalry, so why not....
My son's basketball team was playing "on the road" at a rival high school just south of us. The place was packed and there was tremendous "electricity in the air" (as they say!)
Early on in the game, it was very clear that a woman seated behind us would become somewhat annoying because she was ONE person representing the opposing team seated behind a larger group of visiting team fans.
Fans in the stands are always going to have a "friendly" competitive spirit - that's part of what makes these kinds of environments so much fun, not to mention entertaining.
I don't know if it was this woman's ridiculously loud, shrieking whistle that she made anytime she thought it might help her team or what, but it/she was terribly annoying.
Nonetheless, in spite of her obnoxious whistle, everyone around her seemed to be able to ignore her and engage wholeheartedly in the game - which after all, isn't that what the whole evening is about anyway?
Well, I was wrong. Not everyone around us ignored her. In fact, one visiting team
lady seated near us seemed to be VERY annoyed by this woman's whistle, and the whistle lady's subsequent attitude to the point that during halftime, these two women "got into it" - with me and my friend sitting between them.
I have to admit, I have NEVER experienced anything like this. I have never heard words exchanged (no profanity) that cut like a knife to another person like these two women exchanged. The timing and responses of the dialogue rivaled that of anything you have ever watched on "Gilmore Girls", and at times, I honestly thought it was scripted. I was surprised, appalled, embarrassed, hurt, sad, and wanting so badly to not be where I was, but I (like my friend) was trapped by the crowd seated around me.
My friend and I could not believe what we were experiencing.....simply unbelieveable.
I could go on and on, but as I sat there in the middle of this juvenile exchange of verbal assaults, I could not help but wonder what God was thinking all this time. Is this really how we are supposed to behave around our fellow humans - at a high school basketball game for crying out loud? I don't know these women (and part of me is really glad that I don't), but they revealed enough about themselves that I know they will be meeting again in a work environment outside of this high school basketball game setting. I can't imagine what that will be like, but I know I don't want to be around to personally witness the second round of that!
I am sorry, God for how we behave sometimes. We truly are human, and we are disgusting, humiliating, and horrible creatures at times. Tonight's display must have grieved you tremendously.
I am sorry that I did not have the wisdom to intervene with something that might have made this situation better. I have no idea what that would have been, but I just sat there, and maybe......just maybe, my "minding my own business" contributed in some small way to the lack of potential and possible reconciliation.
I guess I will never know.....I was too busy being terribly disturbed.......
