Observation #57: Week Eight Challenge

The Burj Khalifa in Dubai is the tallest buiding in the world. The poor old CN Tower. Once a building is no longer the tallest in world, its just a really tall building. For the week eight challenge, I decided to climb the amount stairs it would take to climb the Burj Khalifa. There are 3234 stairs to the top. I climbed 8200 stairs. I guess the number wasn’t as important as the workout. I ran up and down the stairs at school. I also did the stair climber and a stair climbing treadmill.

There was a city-run day camp running at the school while I was climbing the stairs. A couple of observations. Some kids just don’t respect (fear) adults. There was one kid who the councillors obviously couldn’t handle. They would stick him in the gym by himself. One day he found a tennis racket and like a hundred tennis balls. He proceeded to try to fire the balls into the balcony where I was on the stair machine. Ball after ball flying at me. “What are you doing?” He never answered. He just gave up after awhile. I thought to myself, “What a little shit.” Then I thought at least he was getting some exercise.

Second observation: Little kids will play the most ridiculous games. They were running around dressed as pirates. Doing scavenger hunts. It was refreshing. No scruples about how stupid they looked. I wonder at what age that disappears. Teenagers do not want to look stupid. So in my experience they rarely try something new. This attitude is pervasive. It extends from the classroom to the sports field. I wonder if its always been like this or if its a new thing. I think part of it develops from the fact that kids are spending increasingly more time physically on their own. X boxing instead of boxing. I saw this documentary on jazz. Every punk rock kid goes through their jazz phase. One thing that was said stayed with me. A dancer said that society changed when people stopped dancing as couples. We are becoming islands. Sports teams at the high school level are having a tough time fielding teams.

We have got to find a way recapture the bravery of youth. We need to find a way encourage a generation to get together and participate before they become a lost generation.

Week 8 Challenge: Grade A

Next week's challenge: 100 laps around the track