Loss of Gracious Professionalism Among First Teams

[Bill Gold]

I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but you’re fighting an uphill battle. People and the teams to which they belong are going to do what they want, whenever they want, however they want, and when they want. This is, of course, unless they violate an explicit rule of the game. I think Gracious Professionalism is a wonderful thing. But since we’re all human beings, and do not share the same mind and thought process we each have our own definitions of GP. It’s kind of like an ink blot test, or a Venn diagram that doesn’t exactly line up, or even like the FRC itself. We each have an idea of what GP means, and sometimes we share the same assumptions, but we don’t share an exact definition.

I’ve experienced similar rudeness at FIRST events. For example, my brother (last season) and I (when I was a junior in HS) have been yelled at after matches by an adult mentor from a team that used to come to Silicon Valley. This adult also made what seemed to be a yearly habit of fuming at his team’s drivers. So much so that one of them cried behind the glass at Nationals. These are just 2 (the team you’re talking about and the team I cited) teams, out of more than 100 that I have gotten to talk to fairly often. I can’t think that this is an epidemic of ungracious professionalism. In fact, compared to the real world I think this is a pretty darn good ratio of good to bad teams/people.

I’d also like to address your disapproval of “a good portion of the members of the team, [not knowing what was happening with their robot].” Why does this matter to you? We’ve had many discussions on CD about how much work students should be held accountable for on any given robot. As a person who believes that the kids on his team should have as much input/responsibility as they want, I can’t imagine begrudging a team for not having as much student input as well known student lead programs. Especially begrudging a team where the non-student who designed the robot is your friend. Maybe you hadn’t thought about that.

[I really don’t mean to offend you Mel.] I hate to say it, but Melissa you knew about the friction and inner turmoil of this team before you went to Annapolis. I hear about it all the time. If I were you I would have only tried to hang out with my friends on that team and have a good time, and not get involved in the team’s inner workings any way. They way they’ve been described; it wouldn’t seem far fetched for them to do the things you previously stated. I just don’t think it is right that you would knowingly put yourself into a volatile situation, and then be surprised and shocked when everything blows up in your face. The kid who likes to do cartwheels next to the cliff only has himself/herself to blame when some of the dirt gives way causing them to slip and fall off the edge.

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soezgg:
Chill. You're right that they probably should have been nicer, but maybe you misinterpreted their response. Some people don't have good control over the tone and mode of their voice. In any case, turn the other cheek.
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