As a parent, aunt, and great aunt, I’ve sat on the sidelines and watched.  No, not just the athletes on the field, but their parents.  I never cease to be amazed by the behavior of adults at a Little League, Pop Warner, etc. game.  Really?  Yelling at the coaches, referees, and umpires–but worse, many of them scream at their child who drops a pass or fails to catch a fly ball.

Last night, I was at my ‘hood bar and grille for weekly trivia.  I’ve been a regular for about two years and have met so many nice folk.  The prizes are “bar bucks:” $25, 15, and 10.  Certainly,  not my motivator, I just go to have fun and the food is fabulous.  Unfortunately, last night I witnessed obnoxious and over-the-top rude behavior.

Now, as in any game, there are rules.  The DJ doesn’t dictate the number of team members; she just wants everyone to have fun and abide by the rules of no cell phone usage, and time limit per question.  Fair rules I think.  Late in the game, with 3 questions remaining, both my team and another turned in our answers after the buzzer.  Hey!  I get it, our answer (which was wrong, by the way) was not accepted as was the other team’s answer.  I KNOW the rules.

Eruption!  A member of the other team began screaming the f-word at the DJ.  Not ONE of his teammates tried to shut him down. At first, the DJ was calm, but the f bombs continued to drop, as her four-year-old witnessed.  By now, the remaining teams were saying, “Cool it” “Sit down” “Stop!”

Then, our very tearful, shaken DJ closed her computer and announced: The game is over.

I remain stunned, saddened, and mystified by this disturbing incident.  After all, it’s just a game.