Stumbledore
Registered User
The comments about singing reminded me of our high school football team.
Our hazing involved having to stand in the center of the dressing room, usually in just your jock or briefs, and sing a verse of whatever current song title was yelled out. We were then given a points rating on how well we sang. The kid with the lowest number of points -- not me, thankfully -- had to do laundry for the team, mostly jocks and socks and reeking like any group of teens would be.
Curiously, a couple of years after I graduated, the hazing ritual was dropped, not due to any criticism or backlash but because it was tired and boring. Or as the high school paper said at the time, it had become "lame".
More curiously, a few years after that, complaints arose that there was no bonding ritual. So, a written test was arranged for all new players who made the team. It was a series of T/F questions about the team, its history, and the local league. The results were marked and posted and the TWO kids who got the lowest score ended up with -- yep, you guessed it -- laundry detail. All this was a few decades ago and I've no idea what the school does now in the new, enlightened age.
I don't recall anyone recoiling from our hazing or complaining about the ritual. Just grousing about having to listen to the singing. We were a pretty good football team and consistently made the playoffs but, man, were we ever lousy singers.
Our hazing involved having to stand in the center of the dressing room, usually in just your jock or briefs, and sing a verse of whatever current song title was yelled out. We were then given a points rating on how well we sang. The kid with the lowest number of points -- not me, thankfully -- had to do laundry for the team, mostly jocks and socks and reeking like any group of teens would be.
Curiously, a couple of years after I graduated, the hazing ritual was dropped, not due to any criticism or backlash but because it was tired and boring. Or as the high school paper said at the time, it had become "lame".
More curiously, a few years after that, complaints arose that there was no bonding ritual. So, a written test was arranged for all new players who made the team. It was a series of T/F questions about the team, its history, and the local league. The results were marked and posted and the TWO kids who got the lowest score ended up with -- yep, you guessed it -- laundry detail. All this was a few decades ago and I've no idea what the school does now in the new, enlightened age.
I don't recall anyone recoiling from our hazing or complaining about the ritual. Just grousing about having to listen to the singing. We were a pretty good football team and consistently made the playoffs but, man, were we ever lousy singers.
