Burn the House to Kill a Fly - Notre Dame grads don't know the meaning of Sacred

Years later...

Kid: Who spoke at your commencement dad?
Parent: The Vice President of the USA
Kid: Wow! You got to see the Vice President? How was it?
Parent: I don't know, I walked out of my own graduation.
Kid: Oh.

a reply to: TheRedneck

'Mornin Red...Well? In regards to your experience: "It was *my day. Not his." *(their's)

I think they exercised their right...maybe for the 1st time. I'd have been like you and been proud to even be a grad. Especially after years of hard studies and on this important day of their lives.

Wrong? Right? I don't think it matters...it achieved the desired effect: to protest a person, place, policy or administration. And don't I think it really had any negative effect on the other grads and their families.

Have a great day R! MS

originally posted by: DBCowboy
a reply to: TheRedneck

The feeling of accomplishment is directly proportional to the effort made to achieve it.

THAT should tell you something right there.

It also should be noted that a threads awesomeness is directly in proportion to the music video attached!

The fading years of country music were pretty great.

a reply to: jjkenobi



Years later...

Kid: Who spoke at your commencement grandpa?
Me: Senator Jeff Sessions
Kid: Wow! You got to see Jeff Sessions? How was it?
Me: Ummm... he said we did good.
Kid: Wow! Cool!

Quite a difference...

TheRedneck

originally posted by: jjkenobi
Years later...

Kid: Who spoke at your commencement dad?
Parent: The Vice President of the USA
Kid: Wow! You got to see the Vice President? How was it?
Parent: I don't know, I walked out of my own graduation.
Kid: Oh.

Kid: So why did you walk out Dad?
Dad: Because this Vice President stands for EVERYTHING that I am against. Because I refused to be loud or obnoxious and disrupt the speech and ruin it for everyone else. Because I wanted him and everyone around to know that I was willing to sacrifice my own personal pleasure of attending my graduation in order to stay true to my convictions, rather than to sit quietly like a meek little mouse, or a sheep. And because I wanted to be a future role model for you on how you protest with class and grace.
Kid: Wow. That's cool.

a reply to: mysterioustranger

Mornin'!

Not going to argue that point... they had every right to walk out. But I recall a line from Jurassic Park spoken by Jeff Goldblum:

"Just because one can do a thing, it does not mean one should do a thing."

TheRedneck

Kid: Who spoke at your commencement dad?
Me: Don't know. It didn't matter.
Kid: Why not?
Me: The day wasn't about any speaker, it was about me.
Kid: Whatever. Can I have some money now?

a reply to: TheRedneck

Don't you know protest is the cool thing to do now? And don't you know college kids are the coolest people around?

It was sacred enough to them that they chose to leave in protest of what they viewed as the ruination of it.

Why is that such a hard concept to understand? Because it's sacred to them they shouldn't have left it? Would that same logic apply if an imperial wizard from the local klukkers was there to speak? Pretty sure not.

originally posted by: TheRedneck
a reply to: Bhadhidar

They stood their ground

Running away is not standing your ground. It is the opposite.

Who did they hurt?

Pence finished his speech, and actually got extra airtime because of the students' actions. Other commencement addresses have been aired, reported, and forgotten. This one is being aired over and over. The students gave Pence an expanded platform for his message.

The students can never repeat their achievement. They will never walk the stage with their friends. Their friends and family will never get to stand and publicly applaud them in the commencement ceremony. They will get their degree, sure... they earned it. But it will ring hollow in years to come.

If you believe that standing one's ground is equivalent to letting the mere presence of anyone else deter one from their rightful rewards, I fear for you too.

TheRedneck

Yes. If they had half an ass between all of them, they would have demonstrated and ruined the entire event for everyone.
They accomplished nothing other than spending their parents money of caps and gowns that were not really needed.

a reply to: kaylaluv

Two days later, the doorbell rings. Dad opens it to see a cop standing there.

Dad: Can I help you Officer?
Cop: I'm here to inform you that your kid skipped school today and was picked up for vandalizing the school. Would you come down to the station with me?

An hour later at the police station...

Dad: Why did you skip school?
Kid: I didn't. I walked out of class.
Dad: Why?
Kid: I was protesting with class and grace.

TheRedneck

a reply to: butcherguy

Great point. The commencement speaker is scheduled weeks before commencement, so why did they go at all?

Just a waste of parents' money for a little negative PR.

TheRedneck

a reply to: TheRedneck

How did they "run away"? You're too high on the soap box to see that they actually took a stand for something that they believe in, whether you believe in their cause matters not one single bit.

Perhaps their views on what is sacred are different than yours.

Since this thread is based opinion, it's my opinion that you're over reacting but we all have different views so it's all good.

a reply to: TheRedneck

First off, vandalizing was the exact opposite of what the dad taught him with the graduation lesson.

Second, why did the kid walk out of class? Was it because the teacher was going outside the curriculum by lecturing on how gay people are a bunch of sinners and freaks and deserve to burn in hell, and that every time a gay is murdered, that's just God giving well-deserved punishment? I would reward my kid for walking out on THAT class...

a reply to: TheRedneck

The graduates walked out of a commencement speech, not their graduation. You don't get to define sacred for other people, you may be arrogant enough to think that you can but in the end you'll just be an impotent, sad figure screaming in his driveway at the crop duster floating overhead. Protest, to me and many is sacred. Refusing to hear that inhuman, unchristian SOB speak his filth would not erase all the hard work I put into what that commencement was supposed to represent.

Well Redneck, I have got to say that I can only disagree with you on one point. That is most definitely not an old song. Tippin could not have released it more than four or five years ago eh?

a reply to: kaylaluv

except people rarely hold the same beliefs for their entire lives.
if you hold the same beliefs at 50 that you held at 21 then you haven`t learned anything from life.

beliefs are always mutating and changing as we grow older,learn more and experience more.

a reply to: Mikehawk

Perhaps their views on what is sacred are different than yours.

Oh, that much is obvious!

But what happens when that which is truly sacred to others is considered useless enough to abandon by them? There's serious conflict in them thar hills... because what I consider sacred, I am willing to fight for. I believe an awful lot of people feel the same way.

Politics is really going to be fun for a while, watching people walk away from anything they disagree with instead of standing their ground and openly opposing it with debate and logic. The really good part will be the complaints afterward when their voices didn't get heard because they walked away.

Oh, wait... I need to catch up!

TheRedneck

originally posted by: Tardacus
a reply to: kaylaluv

except people rarely hold the same beliefs for their entire lives.
if you hold the same beliefs at 50 that you held at 21 then you haven`t learned anything from life.

beliefs are always mutating and changing as we grow older,learn more and experience more.

That's only true about some things, not all things. When I was 21, I believed that gay people deserve the same civil rights as all other citizens. At 56 (will be 57 next month) - I still believe that.

Oh and I've learned and experienced plenty in those 30+ years.

a reply to: kaylaluv

First off, children take cues from people besides just their parents. Ever watch a news clip of a Berkeley 'protest'?

Second, I listened to the speech. He said none of that.

TheRedneck