Yes, it has come to this. Mom is ready to sue over a blown call at a spelling bee. A spelling bee. It must be terrible to have so little in your life that you have time to consider suing a school district over a fucking spelling bee.
But…but…little Sara was traumatised! She’ll probably hate school from now on, drop out and turn to a life of prostitution and drug abuse, finally dying a broken, fallen woman crushed by the machine that is Competitive Spelling.
I agree. The mom is a complete lightweight. She should put on an explosive vest filled with nails and blow herself up in the superintendent’s office.
Great thread title, Otto.
If you start to spell the word, you may start over, but the sequences of letters already spoken may not be changed.
That’s kind of what I was expecting to see when I read the article - that she had started to spell the word incorrectly, but went back and spelled it right.
I think the mom has a point - it’s the judge’s responsibility to ensure that a correctly-spelled word is given proper credit, but it’s also not something to sue over, for God’s sake.
Was this the regional bee that decides who goes to nationals? If so, I understand why she’s upset - some of those kids go 2 or 3 times to Nationals, and they’re damn competitive (watch the documentary “Spellbound” to see it). However, chalk it up to a “Life’s not fair” lesson and get over it.
E.
I thought for sure some Baltimore Ear Nose and Throat specialist had fucked up somehow.
I lost a spelling bee in fifth grade in October, 1968 at 2 o’clock in the afternoon at St. Benedict Elementary in Alameda, California to the Dutch girl when Mrs. Smith pronounced the word governnnnnment.
Not that I dwell on it.
Can’t see this one going anywhere. Show them the rule that says protests must be made before the end of the round. And, probably, the one that also says that protests must be made by the participant.
So not only were they way too late, they weren’t even eligible to make that protest. If the rules for this one were like every one I’ve ever been involved with, the kid missed out because she didn’t say anything herself. I’d bet her parents and, if she had one, her coach/teacher, never made sure she knew that and knew how to do it. So Mom may bear some of the blame here. That’s the way it goes. Call it a learning experience.
From Otto’s article:
I totally agree. This woman needs to chill out.
My god, won’t somebody think of the childern!!!
Oh My God!! Talk about trauma. The poor little thing may never spell again.
There is some cash involved – see here. $22k will pay for almost a year of college if invested properly. But Christ on a bike, lady. A “momma bear with her bear claws out” would just eat the referee, as civilized bears should.
And riddle me this, Batman: If she’s a “momma bear,” what could she have out other than “her bear claws”? Her “hamster claws”? What is wrong with these people? (And I say that as someone who actually belonged to the world of “competitive spelling,” way back when.) What a moron. M-A-R-O-O-N. Moron.
And that’s the bottom line. If this were so damn important, learn the rules of the game, and don’t sit quietly until the end to avoid “interrupting”. The rules say to interrupt, so open your mouths.
YOU screwed up. YOU didn’t protest when the rules said to. YOU waited until it was far too late for anybody to do anything about the result. YOU get to sit at home knowing your screw up was just as much the cause of this as any judge’s mistake.
I’d love to hear the school file a countersuit for attorney fees if this goes to court.
Nah.
It’ll happen exactly as you said, but it will instead be because for the rest of her life she’ll be known as “that one girl whose mom is a total fucking bitch”.
-Joe
“A-G-E-N… A-G-G-I…”
Maybe her pasties?
Hmmm… “spelling bee judge”. OK, I can cross “Dan Quayle” off my “Where Are They Now?” research list…
But we don’t even know if this was for the Scripps-Howard bee, or if there were any prizes (cash or otherwise) involved. Even if this were a S-H prelim event, there’s no guarantee little Sara would’ve gone on to win at nationals, or even spell her next word in this bee right for that matter.
Apple Fritters
Put her in a padded cell and make her spell the dictionary.
If she can do that, she wins.
E.
Y’know, when I read this post, I’d scrolled past the username so didn’t know whose it was. Until I got to the quoted part. Then I knew it was rockle. If I were straight, I’d be on my way to Pottsville (or whatever ogforsaken hunk of the near-wilderness of eastern PA that begins with “Pott” you’re at) to propose…