I had an unexpected sub job yesterday afternoon out in Parma for the PE teacher. During my prep period, I went up the climbing wall that the National Guard had set up in the parking lot but because I had fifth graders for 7th and 8th period, I took them outside to play dodgeball. During 8th period, I really got to thinking about how being a dodgeball referee is just like being the government. How does a government decide upon its regulations of it's laissez-faire policies? I was having the exact same struggles. Do I micro-manage the teams, scrutinizing every play and hit and not listen to any arguments about "no, I wasn't out!" or "it didn't hit my shoulder!" At what point does this stop becoming fun for all of us? At what point does cheating start to run rampant under the nose of the ref. Same with the government and its regulations- at what point will corporations start to do underhanded and under the table things to subvert the regulations.
On the other hand, do I just let the kids play and let them regulate and referee themselves? For the most part, things go well because they just want to play the game without any stopping. Things are great for awhile. Corporations, like the kids, do the same thing. They just want to go about their business making their money and not have to worry about the government coming into interfere. However, at one point, things slowly start to turn sour and the kids get frustrated with little inconsistencies in the rules and if you're not careful, things get out of hand. Kids start to yell at each other, cheating gets even more rampant and all of a sudden you have a mutiny on your hands.
The conclusion- dodgeballs referees and the government need to find a happy medium of regulation and laissez-fair policies, as well as judging each situation on an individual level. Thank you dodgeball for that lesson.
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