kathymom

Ok I'm taking one more shot at this. And (applause please) I am done here. I have not been making an issue about how my son feels, how the corps feel, how they don't deserve to be hated, how my son needs to suck it up. He could probably care less. I am ONLY talking about rude , obnoxious people at shows. ruining MY enjoyment and those of friends and family by being subjected to the catcalls and boos and nasty comments. If you have to flame me for that go ahead. To those of you who understood that from my posts Thank You.

Sitting in the stands listening to the catcalls (shut up and play ) and the boos and the snickering RUINED the experience for my family. It happened in Allentown too. I want you to think about the parents and how THEY feel when you are treating THEIR children with such hate and disrespect ? How do you think other young people who are hoping to participate in drum corps in the future will feel that they could receive such treatment from an audience ?. How do you think this kind of behavior will encourage better turnouts at DCI shows ??? This is part of my original post. As usual some people have to hijack the thread and make it into something else. So I ask again how would you feel ? We parents spend $100's of $$ too to see these shows. I think we have a right to watch without listening to the trash talk ??? You just cheapen drum corps with that behavior.

And as I said in an earlier post, some kids their age are in a literal war zone right now, getting shot at, where death is the goal of those who dislike their mission. Let's not stretch this into comparing what our people in the armed forces are going through. Not even close. And I have a son in the armed forces. My whole point is not to deny you the right to hate the show/ concept/ narration. It boils down to minding your manners when you are at a show. Pure and simple. One would think there were better things to get obsessed about . There are shows I don't care for and some that I feel strongly about but I don't go screaming it out from the stands. Yes my son chose Cadets. He loves The Cadets the music, the instructers the whole experience. I support his choice and do not blanch at the thought of my lil baby being made fun of.

Parents speak out. I hope parents from all the corps will post here and relate how you would feel if this happened to your son or daughters corps. I am the parent of a Cadet .I’m not a musician. I don’t judge shows I just watch and enjoy. It is not my place to tell the directors how to run things. My place is to shell out the $$ and support my sons passion for music. I am at the point where I am afraid for my son’s safety. The venom and hate being bandied around these boards just curdles my blood. It makes me fear a lynch mob will show up at one of the show venues . People sitting near us in the stands at the Rose Bowl last year kept giving us furtive looks and acted as though they were waiting for us to open fire on them. Someone actually asked us what we would “do” if The Cadets didn’t win. They were amazed that we cheered and clapped every corps. We gave the Blue Devils a standing ovation when they took the Championship. It’s called good sportsmanship. Sitting in the stands listening to the catcalls (shut up and play ) and the boos and the snickering RUINED the experience for my family. It happened in Allentown too. I want you to think about the parents and how THEY feel when you are treating THEIR children with such hate and disrespect ? How do you think other young people who are hoping to participate in drum corps in the future will feel that they could receive such treatment from an audience ?. How do you think this kind of behavior will encourage better turnouts at DCI shows ??? I don’t care if a show is bad, good or terrible. I stand and clap and cheer for EVERY SINGLE ONE OF THEM. You have the right to hate narration. You have the right not to watch the show. George Hopkins has an E-mail address just go to the YEA website and click on “ask george’. Make your opinions known to DCI. LEAVE THE KIDS ALONE. It isn’t narration that is ruining drum corps.