i just had this email and found the following on the internet. I fully agree with Salil.
I just got the following email from a friend (grammar warts and all).
Two Choices
What would you do? You make the choice. Don't look for a punch line, there isn't one.
Read it anyway. My question is: Would you have made the same choice?
At a fundraising dinner for a school that serves learning-disabled children, the father of one of the students delivered a speech thatwould never be forgotten by all who attended. After
extolling the school and its dedicated staff, he offered a question: 'When not interfered with by outside influences, everything nature does is done with perfection. Yet my son, Shay, cannot learn things as other children do. He cannot understand things as other children do. Where is the natural order of things in my son?' The audience was stilled by the query. The father continued.
'I believe that when a child like Shay, physically and mentally handicapped comes into the world, anopportunity to realize true human nature presents itself, and it comes in the way other people treat that child.'Then he told the following story: Shay and his father had walked past a park where some boys Shay knew were playing baseball. Shay asked, 'Do you think they'll let me play?'
Shay's father knew that most of the boys would not want someone like Shay on their team, but the father also understood that if his son were allowed to play, it would give him a much-needed sense of belonging and some confidence to be accepted by others in spite of his handicaps. Shay's father approached one of the boys on the field and asked (not expecting much) if Shay could play. The boy looked around for guidance and said, 'We're losing by six runs and the game is
in the eighth inning. I guess he can be on our team and we'll try to put him in to bat in the ninth inning.' Shay struggled over to the team's bench and, with a broad smile, put on a team shirt. His Father watched with a small tear in his eye and warmth in his heart. The boys saw the father's joy at his son being accepted. In the bottom of the eighth inning, Shay's team scored a few runs but
was still behind by three. In the top of the ninth inning, Shay put on a glove and played in the right field. Even though no hits came his way, he was obviously ecstatic just to be in the game and on the field, grinning from ear to ear as his father waved to him from the stands. In the bottom of the ninth inning, Shay's team scored again. Now, with two outs and the bases loaded, the
potential winningrun was on base and Shay was scheduled to be next at bat. At this juncture, do they let Shay bat and give away their chance to win the game? Surprisingly, Shay was given the bat. Everyone knew that a hit was all but impossible because Shay didn't even know how to hold the bat properly, much less connect with the ball. However, as Shay stepped up to the plate, the pitcher, recognizing that the other team was putting winning aside for this moment in Shay's life, moved in a few steps to lob the ball in softly so Shay could at least make contact. The first pitch came and Shay swung clumsily and missed. The pitcher again took a few steps forward to toss the ball softly towards Shay. As the pitch came in, Shay swung at the ball and hit a slow ground ball right back to the pitcher. The game would now be over. The pitcher picked up the soft
grounder and could have easily thrown the ball to the first baseman. Shay would have been out and that would have been the end of the game. Instead, the pitcher threw the ball right over the first baseman's head, out of reach of all team mates. Everyone from the stands and both teams started yelling, 'Shay, run to first! Run to first!' Never in his life had Shay ever run that far, but he made it to first base. He scampered down the baseline, wide-eyed and startled.
Everyone yelled, 'Run to second, run to second!' Catching his breath, Shay awkwardly ran towards second, gleaming and struggling to make it to the base. By the time Shay rounded towards second base, the rightfielder had the ball ... the smallest guy on their team who now had his first chance to be the hero for his team. He could have thrown the ball to the second-baseman for the tag, but he understood the pitcher's intentions so he, too, intentionally threw the ball high
andfar over the third-baseman' s head. Shay ran toward third base deliriously as the runners ahead of him circled the bases toward home.All were screaming, 'Shay, Shay, Shay, all the Way Shay'Shay reached third base because the opposing shortstop ran to help him by turning him in the direction of third base, and shouted, 'Run to third! Shay, run to third!'As Shay rounded third, the boys from both teams, and the spectators, were on their feet screaming, 'Shay, run home!
Run home!' Shay ran to home, stepped on the plate, and was cheered as the hero
who hit the grand slam and won the game for his team.'That day', said the father softly with tears now rolling down hisface, 'the boys from both teams helped bring a piece of true love andhumanity into this world'. Shay didn't make it to another summer. He died that winter, having never forgotten being the hero and making his father so happy, and coming home and seeing his Mother tearfully embrace her little hero ofthe day!
AND NOW A LITTLE FOOTNOTE TO THIS STORY: We all send thousands
of jokes through the e-mail without a second thought, but when it comes to
sending messages about life choices, people hesitate. The crude,vulgar, and
often obscene pass freely through cyberspace, but public discussion about
decency is too often suppressed in our schools and workplaces. If you're thinking
about forwarding this message, chances are that you're probably sorting out the
people in your address book who aren't the 'appropriate' ones to receive this
type of message. Well, the person who sent you this believes that we all can
make a difference.We all have thousands of opportunities every single day to
help realize the 'natural order of things.' So many seemingly trivial
interactions between two people present us with a choice: Do we pass along a
little spark of love and humanity or do we pass up those opportunities and leave
the world a little bit colder in the process? A wise man once said every society
is judged by how it treats it's least fortunate amongst them.
You now have two choices:
1. Delete
2. Forward May your day, be a Shay Day.
Okay, I'm going to address this one point-by-point.
Email: 'When not interfered with by outside influences, everything nature does is done with perfection..."
Salil: Uh, okay, daddy-o. So how do you explain your son? Clearly, everything in nature is not perfect. But you sure sound like you love your Bible. I'm already on my guard for what comes next.
Email: "The father continued. 'I believe that when a child like Shay, physically and mentally handicapped comes into the world, an opportunity to realize true human nature presents itself, and it comes in the way other people treat that child.' "
Salil: Really? So the opportunity isn't for Shay? It's for the world? Shay's just a lost cause, huh? Yeah, I can tell you're shortlisted for a Father of the Year Award.
Email: "Shay's father knew that most of the boys would not want someone like Shay on their team, but the father also understood that if his sonwere allowed to play, it would give him a much-needed sense ofbelonging and some confidence to be accepted by others in spite of hishandicaps."
Salil: Sounds like Shay's father is not only bigoted against handicapped people, he's also prejudiced against non-handicapped people, too. And obviously, what Shay needs most to help his self-esteem is to play baseball on a team that wouldn't want him to play on it, and that plays at a level beyond his abilities. That's just a brilliant idea for any handicapped child. See above-mentioned FOTY Award. He just moved up another notch.
And by "up," I mean "down." And by "a," I mean "several."
Email: "Shay struggled over to the team's bench and, with a broad smile, put on a team shirt. His Father watched with a small tear in his eye and warmth in his heart."
Salil:
Email: "Everyone knew that a hit was all but impossible because Shay didn't even know how to hold the bat properly, much less connect with the ball."
Salil: Really? Everyone knew that, huh? Because no person with a physical disability could ever hit a ball, right? That would be all but impossible! Shay was holding the bat the wrong way, Shay was happy just to be in the outfield, Shay is just a cuddly little goofy fucker, isn't he? Gosh.
Email: "However, as Shay stepped up to the plate, the pitcher, recognizing that the other team was putting winning aside for this moment in Shay's life, moved in a few steps to lob the ball in softly so Shay could at least make contact."
Salil: There you have it. When confronted with someone who has a disability, you must immediately lower your standards or expectations, because the poor dears are really lucky to be getting a shot at all, and you have a shot at changing their life just by making sure they succeed through any means possible!
(That's how we got our President, did you know that?)
Email: "He scampered down the baseline, wide-eyed and startled...Shay awkwardly ran towards second, gleaming and struggling to make it to the base...Shay reached third base because the opposing shortstop ran to help him by turning him in the direction of third base."
Salil: Seriously. That's just offensive now. What's with the strange reveling in a handicapped child's lack of physical grace? Also, I have no idea how someone runs while gleaming and struggling. But there it is again, a "normal" person condescendingly setting a handicapped person on the right path. That's the only way Shay would have ever found third base.
Just like telling this story to a chick in a bar is probably the only way the email author can get to third base.
Email: "...the rightfielder had the ball ... the smallest guy on their team who now had his first chance to be the hero for his team. He could have thrown the ball to the second-baseman for the tag, but he understood thepitcher's intentions so he, too, intentionally threw the ball high and far over the third-baseman' s head."
Salil: So now the "smallest guy on the field" is basically almost handicapped himself? Email Forward, who do you not hate, you Size-ist bastard?
So this guy--a cross between Tiny Tim, Jackie RObinson, and Jesus--sacrifices his chance for glory and fame in the incredibly cut-throat field of Little Kids Playing Baseball In A Vacant Lot for the chance to provide this 'tarded kid a chance at finally having some satisfaction in his life.
Is anyone else feeling just the slightest bit nauseous here?
Email: "Shay didn't make it to another summer. He died that winter, having never forgotten being the hero and making his father so happy, andcoming home and seeing his Mother tearfully embrace her little hero ofthe day!"
Salil: Ah, there it is. Where would a heartrending story about 'tards be without the kid dying? That's just so sad it makes me want to pound the snot out of the person who wrote this total bullshit email so hard that he won't be able to walk around unescorted anymore, and one day his dad will be walking past a baseball game with the brain-damaged email author in tow, and a bunch of kids DO NOT LET HIM PLAY and he dies alone, crying.
Email: "Do we pass along a little spark of love and humanity or do we pass up those opportunities and leave the world a little bit colder in the process? A wise man once said every society is judged by how it treats it's least fortunate amongst them. You now have two choices:
1. Delete
2. Forward May your day, be a Shay Day."
Salil: Ah, what a clever little dichotomy you've set up, Email Forward! So the first choice (love and humanity" corresponds to "Forward This Stupid Email On / I Celebrated Shay Day at Key West By Taking Off This T-Shirt!" and "Leave the world a cold place" goes with "Delete This Stupid Email and Mock the Person Who Sent It To Me Mercilessly."
Well, it's obvious which choice I went with.
Here's the real moral: a story about a dead kid with an unnamed disability will translate into an automatic email forward, and will circulate around the Internet for all eternity, because with each passing moment the general population is only becoming more like Shay in their mental abilities. I envision the day when having a birth defect, chromosomal abnormality, or getting into an accident will actually raise the IQ of the average individual who reads crap like this and decides to send it on to all points of their address book.
