random thought

So how many times have you heard a public speaker (especially in church) use the expression "...feels like getting picked last for the kick-ball team"?

I'm assuming that the answer is "quite often, though I wasn't keeping track."*
And two things occurr to me every time I hear it.

1) Why is it always kickball? They assume that every child in America plays kickball with a fiery passion that that makes it a staple in his/her early development. There were many other games (even in those days) and many of them involved me being picked last. I am OFTEN times picked last for basketball because a dwarf with stomach cramps every time I get near the ball and I have a tendency to chuck it the minute it touches me hands like it's a hot potato.** But no one ever mentions basketball, because people assume that it is not as scarring of an experience to be picked last for basketball. That, or they assume that no child in America was ever bad enough to be picked last for basketball. Mathematically it doesn't make sense, I know, but I haven't heard anyone else admit to being picked last for basketball.

2) There are a LOT of people who have never been picked last for kickball. Even I have never been picked last for kickball because basically the only skill required in kickball is running for short distances in a straight line. And there are usually about fifteen or so kids playing on a team, cause you always play in Gym class. So if you look like at least the 29th fastest kid out of 30 (or in other words, the top 97%) you probably aren't going to get picked last that day.

And so how is Lebron James supposed to feel when the pastor talks about that kid getting picked last? Lebron has no clue. It's never happened to him. You might as well say "yeah it's like when your house blows up." Most people don't know what this is like.

I understand that everyone could IMAGINE what it is like to be picked last but I just wanted to draw attention to the fact that perhaps this comparison isn't quite universal as you might think. and if I've offended anyone who got picked last for kickball, I'm sorry, but if you want to get even you can challenge me to a game of basketball.

*That's a good response, and honest, thank you.
**This is not because I am trying to pad my stats, but because every second I have the ball I feel like I just forgot my lines on stage during a 4th grade Christmas pageant and the sooner I can either dish it to a friend or hear the familiar rattle of the ball bouncing off the rim (if I'm lucky) the sooner the attention will be back on the athletes.