Rafter S":10iscf56 said:
I understand your dislike of the yelling when people had been asked not to, and agree that it was rude and inconsiderate. However, I disagree with you labeling them rednecks.
I suppose there was a little tongue-in-cheek involved when I wrote this. I didn't realize so many would be offended. It's like sharing a bad story about sitting across the table from a nose-picker, and then everyone tries to convince you how lovely that is. I don't have a God-approved definition of redneck, but it sounds just like a joke Jeff Foxworthy might tell: "If you yelled like you were at a strip-club when your son received his high school diploma, you might be a redneck."
It's not necessarily the yelling itself that bothers me, and I'm not saying that yelling at a graduation is an automatic redneck characteristic, but it's the circumstance under which it is done. When a quiet ceremony is the kind that is customary at a particular school, and the audience is asked to be respectful of that, and 148 out of 150 families seem happy to accommodate, how does one decide it is a breath of fresh air to act like someone just finished singing "Whiskey River" when a diploma is given out?
We have used words and phrases like "pride" and "celebration of another generation moving forward." Those sound great, but I don't know how that connects to sounding like you're at a wrestling match when your child gets their diploma. And let me be clear, it is that. I can't speak for what others have witnessed; I am only describing my experience. Maybe some people are picturing a nice round of applause and someone saying "I love you" in a proud voice, but that's not it. I have sat through 50 kids walking across in silence, and then it suddenly sounds like a bar fight has broken out and 5 people are agging them on. I don't understand the connection.
Regardless of how different we all are and how we like to be individuals, I didn't assume it was unheard of to expect some respect in some situations even if it meant everybody was acting the same for a brief period of time. If someone asked for a moment of silence for someone who has died, I think most would find it disrespectful and out of order if someone started hollering or even talked in a normal voice.
As for some who mentioned that it was special and a proud moment for some because they might be the first to have graduated from their family, I totally understand that too. I was the first to graduate from college in my family, but I would have been highly embarrassed if someone had started screaming like they were drunk when I got my diploma.
I talked with a mother several years ago who was just glowing that her son was the first from their family to graduate from high school. She seemed in awe of the mostly silent ceremony and proud that her son was walking across with everyone else in the same manner. I understand that more than the other. How does that conversation among parents go before the ceremony. "I'm so proud that my daughter is graduating from high school. I want it to seem special. Hey, I know what to do; let's all yell like we're at a drunk fest when she gets her diploma. That will make it so special."
Lastly, I have to share this story. In my opinion, this is redneck too. A guy in his 40s in my neck of the woods was arrested for DUI and driving without a license. It was on the local news and his mug shot was plastered on the tv screen. For whatever reason, the broadcast mispronounced his last name and gave the wrong county of residence in the report. Personally, had it been my son, I would have been so ashamed of what he did that I would have considered that a plus; maybe nobody will know it's him. His mother, however, called the station and gave them a chewing out. With that, the story had to be rebroadcast with corrections. It amazes me sometimes what people take pride in. It was as if she was saying, "how dare you get the residence and last name of my drunken, jail-bound son wrong."