Friday, August 1, 2008

Loyalty and Must See TV...

Webster's II New Revised Dictionary defines "Loyal" as: "Faithful to a person, ideal or cause."

I didn't need to look that definition up in the dictionary to know what "loyalty" means. Matter of fact, if someone - anyone who knows me - were asked to describe me in only a few words, I'm pretty sure the word "loyal" would be one of them. At least I hope it would be. Okay, let's be honest - if I were asked to describe myself in only a few words, "loyal" would probably be the first one I used.

My husband and I have been together since we were 14 and 15 years old. When we ran with our rotating crowd of friends as teenagers, a few of the guys told me, in confidence, that if my then boyfriend and I ever broke up, they'd like to go out with me. Well, flattering as it was, I was loyal to my then boyfriend/fiancé. And despite my sparkling personality (no, really) and modesty (seriously) and good looks (okay, I just blew my credibility with that one, didn't I?), I would bet one of the main attractions for them was my unfailing loyalty. I mean, who doesn't want a partner we absolutely know we can trust no matter what?

Well, this loyalty is a virtuous character trait to possess alright. It is even more advantageous for the recipient of that allegiance.

Case in point: My 10 yo son's school has just finished being renovated. Next Thursday (yes, Karate class night) at 6:30 pm (yes, Karate class time), there is an Open House celebrating the completion of the renovation. It's going to be a big deal - the mayor and the media will be on hand for the festivities. There will even be refreshments served! Parents will also get to meet the person who will shape their children's minds every day for the next 9 months or so (depending on snow days used). Yes, it's Meet the Teacher Night as well. Oh, did I forget to mention that I am a member of the board of my son's school's PTA? Well, I am. A LOYAL member at that. Despite the fact that I will do almost anything to avoid missing a night of karate, I, like all the other parents, PTA members, school staff, students, etc., have been anxiously awaiting the reopening of the newly renovated building. Not to mention, with this being the big deal that it is, we will need lots of helpers and you know how difficult it can be to recruit parents as volunteers. So, I really do WANT to be there and I really do NEED to be there, but I do have loyalties to others as well… You can see where this is going, can't you?

As I said, I try my level best not to miss a karate class. Not just because of my dedication to our martial arts school, but for my own sanity. Tuesday and Thursday Nights are MY night. The nights when I am LOYAL to myself. And in doing so, by extension, I am loyal to my martial arts school as well.

A few posts ago, I wrote about helping with the children's classes. And most of the time, I am not asked if I will help. I am the one doing the asking - asking if the instructor would allow me to help. But last night one of the teachers asked another woman and me if we'd help next week with the intermediate kids' class. I was so honored to be asked. I didn't even remember my commitment to my son's elementary school Open House. When I remembered after I got home last night, I was torn. I really want to help. If it were any other situation, I would have rescheduled my other event but in this case, I made the commitment months ago and can't very well cancel the Open House or have another chance to meet my son's teacher before the chaos of the school year begins. So I will be honoring my commitment to my son's school this time. And I'm sure the other woman will help and there will be someone else to help. But I wanted it to be me.

Tuesdays and Thursdays are my karate nights. My ladies' group meetings at church are on Tuesday nights. My PTA meetings are on Tuesday nights. American Idol is on Tuesday nights. A Qi Gong class I wanted to take was on Thursday nights. My son's school events always fall on Thursday nights for some reason. And then there's "MUST SEE TV" (yes, even though Friends went off the air years ago, "MUST SEE TV" still exists on Thursday nights.) It's not all on NBC though anymore. You got Big Brother, CSI, Grey's Anatomy, ER…all airing on Thursday nights! In venting to someone about this Tuesday / Thursday event phenomenon recently, the person cited a news program or newspaper article, stating that when trying to get people to attend events, having them on a Tuesday or Thursday improves your chances for higher attendance. No wonder I get so many conflicts on my calendar on Tuesdays and Thursdays! The system is working against me!

All I have to say is, "Gimme a break, world - I wouldn't have to divide my loyalties if you scheduled things on Mondays, Wednesdays, or Fridays…and besides, there's nothing good on TV on those nights!"

9 comments:

Anonymous said...

Y'know, we got a DVR specifically because some of our "shows" are starting and we'll be in class.

This is what Friday night, Saturday night, and Sunday nights are for - catching up on what we missed during the week.

Thank goodness for technology.

Slop -n- Goulash: Dinner of Champions! said...

My hubby tapes them for me (we still live in the dark ages of VCR taping. LOL I really do love "my" shows, but that is yet another thing martial arts have done for me - I'm not as likely to sit and veg out in front of the tv as I used to be. And if I do, I'm usually doing some kind of balancing exercise or stretches, or kata, or...

Anonymous said...

... or at the computer reading about martial arts online, or blogging about it...

:)

Slop -n- Goulash: Dinner of Champions! said...

M.A.L.S. (Her) -
I'm busted, huh? LOL Good catch! LOL!

Perpetual Beginner said...

This would be why I haven't watched any show regularly in about four years. The closest is Project Runway, which I will catch if nothing else conflicts - about half the time.

Slop -n- Goulash: Dinner of Champions! said...

Oh, I admit it - I'm also shallow and lame when I want to veg out. :)

Miss Chris said...

Thanks for stopping by my blog and I'm glad you found it interesting! I'll be stopping by yours often as I enjoy reading about how much you love karate. I remember those days before I got injured. Some days I really miss it...

Anonymous said...

hey - rose here. Had to be "loyal" on Thursday rather than come to karate. 10 year anniversaries come first :)

Slop -n- Goulash: Dinner of Champions! said...

Hey, Rose - I don't know about that - my 21st anniversary fell on a Thursday last year and I was at class! LOL We didn't have the bucks to go out anyway and he had a baseball game anyway so we ended up celebrating on that weekend. But 10 is a milestone one - so yeah, I think you were entitled to miss. But hey, I bet there was nobody there. I know of at least 3 of us who weren't - not even counting who I didn't know about!