If Your Child Was Better At Something, Would You Not Want That Something To Be Something? | Eastern North Carolina Now

First published in my blog Foolishness...Or Is It? on April 5, 2015. (forii.blogspot.com)
    An "educator" in Minnesota said this idea arose during her Internet Search for an activity that the entire school could do. "Who doesn't play with Bubble Wrap?" she said. "It's instant gratification with a noise."

    If you look up "Mental Midget" in the dictionary, there is a little picture of this "educator" next to the definition.

    When the Fella was young we admired people that did something of consequence...
     The Grammar School Student who won the National Spelling Bee in smashing fashion by spelling a word that the judges had never heard of.
     The High School 9th Grader who climbed Mount Everest during his Lunch Break.
     The College Freshman who broke the world's record in the 100 Yard Dash running backwards.

    Too many of today's Grammar, High School & College Students (the Fella defines "too many" as any number more than one) are participating in massive efforts to establish Guinness World Records for Popping Bubble Wrap.

    There you go again thinking I made this one up. When will I convince you that I don't need to make up Foolishness. All I need do is read my newspaper.

    It all started when Hawthorne High School established the original record in January 2013 with 366 students doing the popping.

    Challengers began surfacing about a year later...
     A University of Florida team topped Hawthorne.
     Bramley Church of England Primary School, in Hampshire, U.K., grabbed the record next.
     Then Gonzaga College SJ, a Catholic boys Secondary School in Dublin, Ireland, claimed the crown.
     A couple of weeks later that record was beaten by Riverside Primary School in Tasmania.
     Last May more than 700 Students and Teachers and Staff from a West Scranton, Pa. school sat shoulder-to-shoulder on the gym floor and popped bubbles on Bubble Wrap Packaging. While West Scranton's record didn't hold for long, one of the teachers is sanguine about the brevity of its reign. "It doesn't take away from it," she said. "Even if you have it for 10 minutes you're still the world-record holder. You have bragging rights."
     Less than three weeks later, a school in Elk River, Minn., broke West Scranton's record with 942 poppers.
     Alas, all glory is fleeting because Oral Roberts University broke that record in January, with 1,011 Students, Faculty and Staff.

    The popping frenzy started two years ago when Sealed Air (makers of bubble wrap) teamed up with a school for Bubble Wrap Appreciation Day.

    Did you take note of the word in the above paragraph that raked across my brain like finger nails on a chalk board? Thank heaven you saw it too... "Appreciation".

    Johnny, what do you appreciate and admire? Is it Astronauts who fly to the moon? Is it Scientists who find cures for deadly diseases? Is it that Coach who called that pass play in the Super Bowl on 2nd & 1?

    You know the Good Ole USofA is in deep trouble when Johnny replies, "Bubble Wrap Poppers".

    I do see a sign of hope in all of the Foolishness above. So far Members of Congress have not joined the competition.

    Would I kid u?
    Smartfella

    Lagniappe: Several Saints flipped over in their graves when that Catholic School put bookmarks in their text books and joined in this Silliness.