# No Punch Line



## Feisty (Aug 14, 2000)

Don't look for a punch line. There isn't one. Read it anyway. Myquestion to all of youis: Would you have made the same choice? At a fundraising dinner for a school that serves learningdisabled children, the fatherof one of the students delivered a speech that would never beforgotten by all who attended. After extolling the school and itsdedicated staff, he offered a question. "When not interfered withby outside influences, everything nature does is done with perfection. Yetmy son, Shay cannot learn things as other children do. He cannotunderstand things as other children doWhere is the natural order of things in my son?" The audience was stilled by the query. The father continued. "Ibelieve, that when achild like Shay comes into the world, an opportunity to realizetrue human nature presents itself, andit comes, in the way other people treat that child." Then he told thefollowing story: Shay and his father had walked past a park where some boys Shay knewwere playing baseball.Shay asked, "Do you think they'll let me play?" Shay'sfather knew that most of the boys would not want someone like Shay ontheir team, but the father also understood that if his son were allowed toplay, it would give him a much-needed sense of belonging. Shay'sfather approached one ofthe boys on the field and asked if Shay could play.The boy looked around for guidance and, getting none, he tookmatters into his ownhands and said, "We're losing by six runs and the game is in theeighth inning. I guess he can be on our team and we'll try to put him into bat in the ninthinning." In the bottom of the eighth inning, Shay's team scored a few runsbut was still behind bythree. In the top of the ninth inning, Shay put on a glove and played in theoutfield. Even though no hits came his way, he was obviously ecstatic justto be in the game and on the field, grinning from ear to ear as his fatherwaved to him from the stands. In the bottom of the ninth inning, Shay's team scored again. Now,with two outs and thebases loaded, the potential winning run was on base and Shaywas scheduled to be next at bat. At this juncture, let Shay bat and giveaway their chance to winthe game? Surprisingly, Shay was given the bat. Everyone knew that a hit wasall but impossible cause Shay didn't even know how to hold the batproperly, much less connect withthe ball. However, as Shay stepped up to the plate, thepitcher moved in a few steps to lob the ball in softly so Shay could atleast be able to make contact. The first pitch came and Shay swung clumsily and missed. Thepitcher again took a fewsteps forward to toss the ball softly towards Shay. As the pitchcame in, Shay swung at the ball and hit a slow ground ball right backto the pitcher. The pitcherpicked up the soft grounder and could have easilythrown the ball to the first baseman. Shay would have been out and thatwould have been the end of the game. Instead, the pitcher took the ball andturned and threw the ball on ahigh arc to right field, far beyond the reach of thefirst baseman. Everyone started yelling," Shay, run to first! Run to first!"Never in his life had Shay ever made it to first base. He scampereddown the baseline, wide-eyed and startled; Everyone yelled, "Run tosecond, run to second!" By the time Shay roundedfirst base, the right fielder had the ball. He couldhave thrown the ball to the second-baseman for the tag, but he understoodthe pitcher's intentions and intentionally threw the ball high and far overthe third-baseman's head. Shay ran toward second base as the runners aheadof him deliriously circled the bases toward home.Shay reached second base, the opposing shortstop ran to him,turned him in thedirection of third base, and shouted, "Run to third!" As Shay roundedthird, the boys from both teams were screaming, "Shay, run home!" Shayran to home, stepped on the plate, and was cheered as the hero who hit the"grand slam" and won the game for his team. "That day," said the father softly with tears now rolling down hisface, "the boys fromboth teams helped bring a piece of true love and humanityinto this world." AND, NOW ALITTLE FOOTNOTE TO THIS STORY: We all send thousands of jokes through the e-mail without asecond thought, but when itcomes to sending messages about life choices, people thinktwice about sharing. The crude, vulgar, and often obscene pass freelythrough cyberspace, butpublic discussion about decency is too often suppressed inour schools and workplaces. If you're thinking about forwarding this message, chances are thatyou're probably sortingout the people on your address list that aren't the "appropriate" onesto receive this type of message. Well, the person who sent you this believes that we all can makea difference. We all have thousands of opportunities every single day tohelp realize the "natural order of things." So many seemingly trivial interactions between two peoplepresent us with a choice o we pass along a little spark of love and humanity or do we passup that opportunity, andleave the world a little bit colder in the process?You now have two choices: 1. Delete this. 2. Forward it to the people you care about


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## Feisty (Aug 14, 2000)

Attention everyone:Update to above story:Calida (Bless her sole!) has just e-mailed me with this link that gives you "more of the story" than what I had received and then posted on this board. I apologize for not looking into it further----I just assumed the person who "said she/he had read this story and was passing it on" had the whole story. Apparently not! Obviously the person who rewrote this story edited it the way she/he wanted it to read. Although most of it is accurate, some was left out. For those of you wanting to learn more about this, here is the Urban Legends site to go to: http://www.snopes2.com/glurge/chush.htm Calida, I hope you don't mind me sending this on. I don't want to get into a "mess" by printing something that's not accurate!Thank you!!!


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## Guest (Mar 13, 2002)

Feisty,Of course I don't mind your passing this on. I have nothing against a good uplifting story. However, I do disapprove of stories which circulate on the net which are purported to be "true" stories and they are not. (This one at least had a modicum of truth to it.)The Snopes website calls it "glurge". That's chicken soup for the soul with about five tablespoons of sugar in it! (Yuck!)I thought Barbara Mickelson's commentary on this story was especially good and some real food for thought.Feisty, I surely don't think you are going to get into a "mess" by printing something inaccurate. The bandwidths are loaded with it.I'm just a great advocate for being able to believe what I read, rather than somebody's made-up story to further their own agenda. ;-)mara


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## Feisty (Aug 14, 2000)

Calida,"Thanks"! You make me feel so much better. I agree with you 100%. I'd rather know it's real rather than made up for someone else's benefit!I had to chuckle----I even spelled "sole" wrong---it should be "soul". My apology to you, but knowing you, you're laughing away!!!!! Bet you caught that one right away, huh?!







Karen


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## Guest (Mar 14, 2002)

Yes, I noticed the spelling and got a huge chuckle out of it. You should have said "Bless my soles" though. I have two of'em. One on the bottom of each foot.







Geez, I just noticed I signed that other post "mara". That's a pseudonym of mine on another board.Oh my, lead me through the fog, please......calida


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## Feisty (Aug 14, 2000)

I was going to ask you about that signature, but.....don't ask me why I didn't! Gosh, talk about the dahs.......







P.S. I do like that name though!!!


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## Guest (Mar 16, 2002)

Hi Feisty & Calida, Great story. I read the rest of the story. Did you catch the story below it about the little sister? Definitely shows another side of things! DeeDee


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## Guest (Mar 16, 2002)

Hi DD,I thought the "little sister" story was very enlightening and gives a whole new perspective on the original story. Seems like just about all stories have "another side", or even several sides. Seeing it (or them) is the problem.calida


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## Feisty (Aug 14, 2000)

RIGHT ON !!!!Thanks to Calida---the Real story comes out.Thanks, Calida, again for helping us see the real truth behind the door!


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