April 21: My first award

The first time I actually won something was at a debate tournament when I was in Grade 8. I won third place for public speaking in the junior-senior category at a debate contest about capital punishment. My partner, Grant, and I won two out of three debates even though I kept invoking the Bible and told my opponents that people in prison spent all day eating white mush. Grant stopped being my debate partner shortly afterward and this was probably a wise move on his behalf.

So I made some crazy statements but I guess I was eloquent when I said them which is why I won the award. It was a bronze medal and it said AE Cross on it. AE Cross was the name of the school where the debate took place. For lunch we had hamburgers.

Before the debate, Grant and I did some research at the south branch library, which was shaped like a giant pyramid. I met Grant's dad, who told me he really liked Bruce Springsteen. Grant and I had to decide on how we would kill people if capital punishment suddenly became legal. I wanted a firing squad. Grant said it would be lethal injection. This pissed me off. I thought that shooting a person in the head was a lot more efficient than tying them to a table and pumping them full of Javex, but Grant won that battle because even then he was a pint-sized Christopher Hitchens.

Grant stopped debating in Grade 9 so he could focus on hockey. I stayed with the debate club because I was determined to be the nerdiest kid in school and one year two of the teams from our school made it to the provincials and the other team, made up of two geniuses named Tonja and Michelle, won the whole darn thing and I thought they would be celebrities when we got back to school on Monday but of course they were not and that is because junior high school kids don't care at all about the debate club.

I think I still have my medal.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Sept. 13: You don't know what you gave up

Image
 Dear Mr. Man You know, I don't hate you. If I saw you on the street, I wouldn't yell at you or cuss you out, but I don't think I'd shake your hand. But I do pity you, man. You don't know what you gave up. She's going to be a funeral director, did you know that? Yeah, she's going to be a mover and shaker, hitting the big time. She'll have a good job and she'll never be out of work because she's in an industry that will never die (you should pardon the pun.)  Sure, she had her challenges growing up, but what girl doesn't. Things made her cry. Sometimes, I'm sad to say, I was one of those things. But all I can say is the good times outweigh the bad. I hope she agrees with that. You see, Mr. Man, I have a whole lot of great memories with her. This one time, I tried to take her down to Cleveland so we could see a Major League Baseball game live. But we couldn't get into the States so instead, we went to Niagara Falls and we had a grand ol...
Read more

Dec. 1: What if...

Image
About 10 years ago, my friend, Natalie, and I were discussing our respective journalism careers. Hers started in 1998 in a small town in southeast Saskatchewan. Mine started in Regina in 1999 after I moved there with her. She got a job at a weekly paper there and she introduced me to her editor, who hired me. "I owe my career to you," I told Natalie. This did not impress her. She said that her role in my career trajectory was an infinitesimal one, that I should give myself some credit for my own success. - Still, if I didn't meet Natalie, I might not be where I am right now. When I moved to Regina, I had no ambitions toward a journalism career; all I wanted to do was write a novel. Natalie told me about the job at the paper and encouraged me to go in and meet the staff and see what happened. I wound up surprising myself, I was a pretty good - if not raw - reporter and that job in Regina led to further opportunities in Saskatchewan, Quebec, Alberta, and Ontario, where I re...
Read more

Sept. 12: Mommy don't

Image
My son has picked up the awful habit of banishing his mother from his bedroom when it's time to go to sleep. He will allow us both in to change him into his pajamas and the nightly prayers, but after that he wants some alone time with me. His mom says it doesn't hurt her feelings, but I kind of think it does. - She should not be offended. My son merely picked up my genes. When I was a kid, I didn't want both my parents in my bedroom at the same time. They had to say goodnight to be individually. I guess kiddo and I both have a little OCD. - As luck would have it, Ash and I just finished watching a movie called TRAP. The premise of it is that a serial killer and his daughter are attending a pop concert. The police know he's there so they set up a trap, ensuring that every male adult is interviewed by police before they're dismissed. In the end, we discover that the man's wife suspected him and so she tipped the police about it.  Mom of the year, I tell you. ...
Read more