Those Darn Participation Trophies

As I was eavesdropping at a local watering hole the other day, I heard 2 gentleman in their mid-50s griping about the "Participation Trophy-Age," and how it's ruining our society.

The gentleman had just attended his grandson's spelling bee competition... where every kid at the end was given a $25 gift card to Target... The End of the World!!!

My manners got the best of me and I didn't interject... instead I bottled it up so I could write to anyone on LinkedIn who might need saving.

Let's come right out and say it... If you find yourself in a place where you agree with those guys, you're crotchety, afraid of change and quite frankly... you just don't get it... or as my favorite sports radio host Colin Cowherd says... "People that don't get it... don't get... that they don't get it."

These 2 dudes didn't get, that they didn't get it.

One of my most prized possessions to this day, is a stupid participation trophy I got for bumper bowling in Kindergarten. To be fair... it's a badass trophy. It's sentimental and something I remember as my first trophy/award I ever received.

Did I earn it? no.

Did it make me less hungry, crumple my drive and hinder my competitive fire?

Hell no.

No one has ever had their lives ruined by a participation trophy. No one was ever born with a crazy entrepreneurial spirit, a deep burn inside and been an overall go-getter... only to have that ruined by a trophy they got for bumper bowling in Kindergarten or a gift card to target for misspelling "Banana."

It'll be OK guys.

Your drive, willingness to learn and the ability to push yourself doesn't come from whether or not your "coddled as a kid."

You're born with it.

I'll be damned if that participation trophy for bumper bowling in Kindergarten doesn't make every single move I've made across the country.

You either have it or you don't... simply put. Don't be the old guy yelling at the kids to get off your lawn. That's who you are when you complain about the Participation Trophy age.

There's such better stuff to discuss over cocktails anyways.