Eleran Posted June 28, 2017 Share Posted June 28, 2017 25 minutes ago, Stu said: To me, if I come across a 17 or 18 year old who just botched a DCI performance and I said, “I know you performers are trying hard, but that was a train-wreck and the performance rather sucked.” Likely the 17 or 18 year old would go “Yep; we are better than that and we hate being that embarrassed.” Really? I thought the standard accepted response from a MM these days was: "Old people taking time out of their boring lives to criticize young adults doing band much better than they used to do band is pure hilarity" Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stu Posted June 28, 2017 Share Posted June 28, 2017 2 minutes ago, Eleran said: Really? I thought the standard accepted response from a MM these days was: "Old people taking time out of their boring lives to criticize young adults doing band much better than they used to do band is pure hilarity" In my experience, I have found youth who excel at high-demand activities and work hard for those achievements tend to listen closely to the adults who have more experience and wisdom, and they are not nearly as narcissistic as those youth which live in the world of having everything provided for them while being sheltered from criticism by adults. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Eleran Posted June 28, 2017 Share Posted June 28, 2017 Yes, and no. What I imagine actually goes through the youth's head, even if he is clearly the more polite person and doesn't say it out loud to the person telling him that his 'performance rather sucked", is "Are you my caption head or tech? Or section leader? I'll take that criticism from them, because they know what we're trying to do, and they know exactly how we screwed up, and I respect their opinion. But if you're just some fat old f--- from the stands who walked down here and thinks the price of your ticket entitles you to tell me that my performance sucked, well you can just go die in a fire." And I think that thought process would probably be the same every generation. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stu Posted June 28, 2017 Share Posted June 28, 2017 (edited) One of many hilarious moments I have witnessed while being involved in DCI was at a rehearsal that occurred the day after the corps had botched a performance and lost a few positions. One of the Caption Heads got on the main intercom during Full-Ensemble and yelled, “Losers Try; Winners Go Home and Do It with the Prom Queen!” This was a cleaned-up line from the movie The Rock where Sean Connery made a similar statement to Nicolas Cage; but what made everone laugh was that one of the youth performers jokingly yelled back, “In the movie Nicolas Cage married the Prom Queen”. That broke the tension; the rehearsal went extremely well; and the corps bounced back in competitive performance at the next contest. Edited June 28, 2017 by Stu Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mrk Posted June 28, 2017 Share Posted June 28, 2017 (edited) Stating an opinion, in a private conversation or on a public forum, is simply one person sharing subjective information. Regardless of the sharer's motivation, what you do with that information is entirely up to you. Embrace it? Okay. Allow it to upset you? Alright. Ignore it? Sure. All choices (among countless others) available to you. You telling me my performance was awesome or awful means nothing unless I choose to give it meaning. I work with teens and young adults every day. The suggestion that they can't handle criticism is no more accurate than the implying all adults can. In fact, teens are often critical of themselves and their peers, both seriously and in jest. It's about balance and context. We teach teens about feedback with the Johari Window - being open to feedback can help you to identify your blind spots. Being easily offended has no age limit - it's womb to tomb. Likewise, the ability to ignore or put into context negative feedback can be (and I'd argue it should be) learned at any age as well. I choose to make an effort to be respectful, not because I'm afraid I'll hurt your feelings, but because I'm hoping you might be more open to an idea or opinion you might not have considered or flat out disagree with. In my opinion, there is a big difference between malicious bullying (targeting a person, not a behavior) and a blunt critique or negative feedback. Some disagree. If you don't have anything nice to say about my opinions, performance, behavior or posts - I invite you to speak up anyway. Most teens I know would also invite you to do the same. Edited June 28, 2017 by mrk 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bsader Posted June 28, 2017 Share Posted June 28, 2017 I marched in the Boston Crusaders during the '70's and I don't remember any popcorn eating fat old f---- approaching us to criticize our performance. It would not have been the smartest of things to do! That is unless they were very fast old f-----. Today's Corps are a lot more approachable and I believe this is a good thing. I think pride in your Corps can be something that emanates outward to the point that, if their is some Bozo out there approaching to criticize, they may pick up on this vibe and decide it would be best to keep their ignorant remarks to themselves. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stu Posted June 28, 2017 Share Posted June 28, 2017 15 minutes ago, Bsader said: I marched in the Boston Crusaders during the '70's and I don't remember any popcorn eating fat old f---- approaching us to criticize our performance. It would not have been the smartest of things to do! That is unless they were very fast old f-----. Today's Corps are a lot more approachable and I believe this is a good thing. I think pride in your Corps can be something that emanates outward to the point that, if their is some Bozo out there approaching to criticize, they may pick up on this vibe and decide it would be best to keep their ignorant remarks to themselves. Oh come on!!!! In Boston it is, and always has been, a tradition for people to flip you off, cuss, throw things, and spit if they have a negative opinion concerning your athletic performance. And that did occur back in the day the few times my corps performed and/or rehearsed in the Boston area. Are you sure you are not looking at the past through rose-tented tri-focal glasses? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Terri Schehr Posted June 28, 2017 Share Posted June 28, 2017 (edited) . Edited June 28, 2017 by Terri Schehr 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bsader Posted June 28, 2017 Share Posted June 28, 2017 3 minutes ago, Terri Schehr said: I think the comfort of anonymity allows for a great deal of snark. I doubt someone would walk up to a marching member and make the comments that they do on the internet. That's been my experience. I agree and had actually edited my post to include a statement similar to yours but somehow it got lost due to my ineptness with social media. Most importantly, I would want to add that I've seen some of the performances of the current day Corps and witnessed the obvious pride they have in their Corps and in their performances. I'm not at all worried for them. I'm sure they can take a punch. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bsader Posted June 28, 2017 Share Posted June 28, 2017 23 minutes ago, Stu said: Oh come on!!!! In Boston it is, and always has been, a tradition for people to flip you off, cuss, throw things, and spit if they have a negative opinion concerning your athletic performance. And that did occur back in the day the few times my corps performed and/or rehearsed in the Boston area. Are you sure you are not looking at the past through rose-tented tri-focal glasses? I'm sure it did happen to your Corps but not to mine. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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