Russ Chewning said:
All I have been trying to say is those that play pool for a living make a choice. I am not saying it is a bad or good choice, but it is a choice. I just have an issue with certain players who complain about the lack of money in pool.
Well, you apparently are not willing to admit it now, but there have been strong implications about your feelings toward that choice in your previous posts. JMHO.
What I don't understand is how and where someone can acquire the gall to appoint themselves as the all-knowing, all-seeing and all-powerful arbitrator of "Who is Allowed to Complain" and "Who is Not".
Russ Chewning said:
I won't mention names, but a certain pro player committed a crime and went to prison for a few years. Then, he came out of prison and had a wife and a child to take care of. And complained to anyone who would listen about the different reasons pool players did not make enough money.
Wow. Thanks to your spot-on description, mentioning names is not necessary, now is it? Chalk up another shot to the head of a pro pool player.
Like it or not, it is the
individual's right to bemoan the conditions under which he exists, period. One may, of course, in their own mind set up some sort of self-righteous (dare I say, militaristic?) system of rules, whereby those who wish to improve their lot might be silenced, insulted and shunned, but this says far more about the maker of these rules than those who would be oppressed by them. Realize that your own objectivity may be clouded, because those who have been through brainwashing seldom are able to gauge its effects. The goal of the military is to eliminate individuality and judgement, causing the trainee to see things in black and white, and to follow orders. This makes it easier to control the trainee, easier to ask him to do uncomfortable things. The hard part is turning this thing off when you are done using it.
"Complaining" (your term - there are less judgemental words to describe it, BTW) is more often than not a good thing. Please realize that the only reason anyone has anything worth having today is because someone in the past was unsatisfied with the way things were. We are all standing on the shoulders of those who have gone before. Those who dared propose change and improvement have always fought an uphill battle, even though this country was founded by people who wanted to make things better. Funny how some things never change, isn't it?
The idea that someone has no right to "complain" unless they have a solution to the problem is another ludicrous concept. (What? More unilateral rules?) Of course you learned rationale such as this in the military. Heaven forbid that a "complainer" might stimulate some constructive idea for positive change in the reserved, but more creative soldier. Is it collaboration or is it conspiracy? Can't have that sort of thing going on in This Man's Army, now, can we?
Russ Chewning said:
I'm talking about pros who are vocal about how little money there is in pool. We have both met them, Linda. And I just don't have the patience for it.
Why are you so severely affected by this anyway? Surely you don't labor under the conceit that the pro pool players are "complaining" to
you. Patience is generally something that comes with experience, although with the aid of an open, objective, analytical mind, the process might be shortened. Same for tolerance.
Russ Chewning said:
I truly do wish I could empathize with other people more.
Just follow your simple blueprint for being a professional pool player—I'm sure that all you need is a bit of practice.
Russ Chewning said:
I do tend towards the analytical, but don't feel unhappy about my life, despite what some on here believe.
People with black/white viewpoints are seldom as analytical as they believe themselves to be. Don't confuse analytical with opinionated.
Russ Chewning said:
I just happen to know what I believe to be right and wrong.
How about we change that to something with a little more of an "analytical" feel? How about, oh... maybe, "I just happen to believe what I believe to be right and wrong."
Russ Chewning said:
Some of my views on that subject are quite controversial. I accept that.
This is something that sociopaths often say, just thought you'd like to know.
Russ Chewning said:
I also accept the fact that people find American Idol entertaining, not for the good singers, but for getting to hear non talented people get lambasted. I do not understand why people find seeing someone get insulted after trying their best entertaining, but they do. I find seeing how Laffy Taffy candy is made by watching a Discovery Channel show entertaining. I do acknowledge that the vast majority of things I find entertaining others do not, and vice versa.
First of all, thanks for the insight regarding the "American Idol" program. I didn't really know much about it.
Kudos are also in order for your taste in educational cable programming. None of that drivel intended for the unwashed masses, nosiree. My six year-old also enjoys these programs.
The real plum here, the thing that strips off the last bit of veneer, is this priceless jewel:
Russ Chewning said:
I do not understand why people find seeing someone get insulted after trying their best entertaining, but they do.
The "someones" who are getting "insulted after trying their best" are professional pool players.
The person insulting them is you. I mention this with the hope that you will eventually come to understand how this might look to someone else. But we appear to agree on one thing—I don't find it entertaining either.
Russ Chewning said:
I love pool for the challenge of executing every shot perfectly. Yes, I do believe I would have been a champion if I wished to give up the chance at a different life when I were younger. To me, the drama generally associated with the emotions of being in a pressure situation were not that big a deal. After a few months of playing against good players, I realized that just removing the emotion from the game and just working on making a fundamentally correct stroke every time was the way to go. From the moment I made that decision, I saw it was just a matter of practice. After that, I just adopted an attitude of "Just give me one shot. The rest is completely on me. I just so happened to meet my future wife the next month. I found the choice between being a champion pool player and raising a family in comfort to be an easy one.
Holy mackerel. You make it sound as if they'll be giving monkeys librium and training them to play pro level pool next year. Congratulations are once again in order for being such an intelligent, forward-thinking, rational, and all-around perfect individual - a decision maker non-pariel. Not only did you handily devalue the natural ability of the best players, I suspect that you have made many of the readers of this forum feel appropriately inferior with the tone and content of your resumé. You did however, neglect to mention how much profit you made on the sale of your last house. That's typically the follow-up to the yearly salary disclosure.
You guys need to relax and just let this thread die a quick and painless death.
