Kindness matters, even on a tennis court
A quick story that happened with me this weekend. I live on a complex of apartment buildings and townhomes and we all share the same tennis court. On Sunday morning, I asked my son if he wanted to play, and, surprisingly, he accepted the offer. There is a schedule sheet in which you assign your name and unit, so you can reserve the court. Let me be CLEAR. There are RULES. It is only allowed one hour per unit, especially during weekends. When I got there, there was already someone who booked 90 minutes. I understand it was against the rules, but there was also no one else who booked for the remaining of the day. I was not going to make a big deal out of that.
I decided to book 90 minutes for us. I know I was wrong, but I followed the same reasoning as my neighbour. Yes, I already said I was wrong.
I got to the court and there was a couple of people playing tennis. I waited a couple of minutes and, when it was my time, I walked in and started to get ready.
All of sudden, the woman who was playing there, started to talk to me, raising her voice, pointing her finger at my direction: “You know you are not allowed to play for more than 60 minutes. You are going against the rules. I am going to report you”.
She was mad, she was yelling at me. For the third time, I was not right in booking 90 minutes, but her reaction (or overreaction) was completely unnecessary.
My point is: what is happening with the world? If she had addressed me like a normal person, it would be a completely different story. I did get mad and told her to stop overreacting. I said I was wrong, and I would leave the court after 60 minutes, but she couldn’t stop screaming at me. Her next comment came as punch to my stomach: “You can’t take it from a WOMAN, that’s what it is”. WHAT was that?? I had no reaction to that final comment. I was astonished. For such a small thing, we (my son and I) had to endure such a bad behaviour and a lack of respect.
I am taking this sad incident as lesson to be EVEN MORE KIND to people, whether they are right or wrong. Being kind does not mean being weak or vulnerable. It is the complete opposite. LET’S TRY TO BE KIND TO EACH OTHER. One thing is for sure. Next time, it will be 60 minutes or less…..