That’s what fucking pisses me off when people say this. I was born in 1991. As a child WE ALL KNEW PARTICIPATION TROPHIES WERE SILLY. Nobody was like “Oh fuck yeah, that’s right, I won!” We’d all joke about them being participation trophies. When showing my room I’d say “but these are just participation trophies.”
Comment on The "We Tried" Award
IrateAnteater@sh.itjust.works 9 months ago
As a millennial, at no point did we actually want participation trophies. The feeling of coming in last was not changed in the slightest by receiving a junk trophy.
JackbyDev@programming.dev 9 months ago
lowered_lifted@lemmy.blahaj.zone 9 months ago
I had them in little league soccer and I knew they were BS lol. Made no damn sense because my parents were just like what are we gonna do with this junk?
y0kai@lemmy.dbzer0.com 9 months ago
It was the Boomers who “needed” and forced these trophies on their kids (in the same way the forced sports on some of us) because their fragile egos needed their kids to be “successful” in a useless and arbitrary way.
aeronmelon@lemmy.world 9 months ago
Trophies were forced upon us. I didn’t even like the idea of getting a trophy if I won. I won, neat, I don’t need a gold-colored plastic guy hitting a baseball to help me remember that 2-1 game against another collection of school children.
I certainly didn’t need a wood cutout of me posing on home plate. It was tee-ball, I stopped playing after six months.
ChickenLadyLovesLife@lemmy.world 9 months ago
It was tee-ball, I stopped playing after six months.
I played t-ball. I struck out in every at-bat … in t-ball. Fortunately I excelled at defense: coach put me in right field and the other teams were so scared of me they never hit the ball there.
Hobo@lemmy.world 9 months ago
I was the opposite. I could absolutely destroy the ball at bat, but I would literally sit in left field and pick grass.
eestileib@lemmy.blahaj.zone 9 months ago
They expected me to treasure that bullshit too. Kept my seventh-place ribbons in a box for ten years until I threw them the fuck out
ButteryMonkey@piefed.social 9 months ago
I never got a trophy for anything, but I did like the medal I got for my first wrestling win.. it wasn’t, like, any big thing, but we were against a specific school that has a good program, it was my first year, I was the only girl on the team.. and I won by techfall.
It was definitely a participation trophy of sorts, but it actually felt ok to get. It was engraved to read “for beating your [school] opponent, and first win”
We, as a team, lost to them. Badly.
NielsBohron@lemmy.world 9 months ago
Getting a tech for your first win, especially in a match where your team got crushed is a big deal, especially for a new athlete. I wouldn’t call anything about that a participation trophy.
In fact, one of my proudest memories as a HS wrestler was losing by one in a dual meet being against our rivals where the coaches asked me to wrestle up two weight classes and my goal was “don’t get teched or pinned.” I lost, but I did my part and the team won (so the inverse of your sitch). I would say that an individual win and team loss or an individual loss but team win are both worth celebrating. That’s one of my favorite things about wrestling is that you can have a good day regardless of who the team is facing or how everyone else does.
ButteryMonkey@piefed.social 9 months ago
Thanks, that means a lot to me :) I’ve definitely always viewed it as a participation trophy of sorts, but you’re right; my team was absolutely over the moon for me.
I always liked wrestling for the same reason, it’s an individual sport with camaraderie. Two chances to feel like a winner! Did it for 6 years, was a good time.
kautau@lemmy.world 9 months ago
It was never about the kids, it was about the boomer parents that got jealous seeing other kids with trophies around other petty boomer parents
the_crotch@sh.itjust.works 9 months ago
And the boomer shrinks who were a bit too laser focused on self esteem during the 80s and 90s
Duamerthrax@lemmy.world 9 months ago
I am a worse person having been the focus of my schools mental health people. They cared so deeply for my self esteem, but couldn’t see that hollow victories in the remedial track was making me miserable. They kept telling me that it didn’t matter because I would be able to find employment this way. My only value was as a replaceable cog and they were confused why I was depressed.
Venus_Ziegenfalle@feddit.org 9 months ago
Yo you could post that in showerthoughts. That’s such an insightful take.
basxto@discuss.tchncs.de 9 months ago
Are there also shitterthoughts?
jaybone@lemmy.zip 9 months ago
I have those right next to my shower thoughts.
saltesc@lemmy.world 9 months ago
It felt worse. Getting a recognition certificate or a white ribbon for coming fourth was a total bummer to my care-factor for participating. Kick a kid while they’re down and they’re not likely to be motivated.
theUwUhugger@lemmy.world 9 months ago
I personally never cared about them, usually lost them on my way home
y0kai@lemmy.dbzer0.com 9 months ago
Right I didn’t want to be there anyway.
20 years later my moms like, “don’t you want your old trophies?” I said no. Those are your trophies.
theUwUhugger@lemmy.world 9 months ago
I cared about the ones I actually won
ayyy@sh.itjust.works 9 months ago
You forgot the punctuation!
theUwUhugger@lemmy.world 9 months ago
From now on I refuse refuse to use them I understand that this will make written communication exponentially harder in my private and work life Alas I won’t
Zannsolo@lemmy.world 9 months ago
Coming in last was better than coming in second 😔