BS: There are still some good kids

Subject: RE: BS: There are still some good kids
From: Geordie-Peorgie
Date: 06 Nov 07 - 06:49 PM

How gratifying a story is that!

Aah hev te admit that as aah've gotten older and more curmudgeonly, aah hev te periodically kick mesel' te remind me that not aall kids in hoodies and base-baall caps are thugs - Just the ones what mek it inte the news.

Aah'm pleased that aah frequently get told how my two girls are like a breath of fresh air te taalk to as they are polite and taalk England like wot aah dee (but withoot the accent)

Most of their pals are like that an' aall - But THEY divvent like ye te knaah as it's not 'cool' (innit?)

Subject: RE: BS: There are still some good kids
From: Rowan
Date: 06 Nov 07 - 01:26 AM

Truly delightful, Kat.

Subject: RE: BS: There are still some good kids
From: catspaw49
Date: 05 Nov 07 - 06:34 AM

Butch's team is having a pretty fair year and have at least assured themselves a share of their conference championship.

But as it turns out>>>>>>...This story gets even better. Here's a link that tells how this tradition started and also how the entire college is helping out Butch and his Mom outside of a ride to the games.

RAH-RAH for Middlebury!!! A great story and one where we can all believe in our own humanity.

The Butch Varno Initiative


Spaw

Subject: RE: BS: There are still some good kids
From: skipy
Date: 03 Nov 07 - 09:03 PM

Wonderful story, long may it continue & when he is gone I hope they find someone else to help.
Skipy

Subject: RE: BS: There are still some good kids
From: McGrath of Harlow
Date: 03 Nov 07 - 08:33 PM

The trouble is that there's a constant drip. in pretty well every kind of media, that seems designed to make kids and parents think that any relationship between parents and teenagers other than continuous mutual contempt and dislike is abnormal and even undesirable.

It's true enough that at times it can get squally, but I'm also sure that if there aren't more ups than there are downs something is wrong. But that's not how it gets presented.

Subject: RE: BS: There are still some good kids
From: SINSULL
Date: 03 Nov 07 - 08:18 PM

Nice Kat.
I too recognize that the few kids who are "bad" get all the attention and give the age group a bad name.
M

Subject: RE: BS: There are still some good kids
From: Don(Wyziwyg)T
Date: 03 Nov 07 - 07:43 PM

Sure, there are millions of good youngsters out there, unnoticed because good news doesn't sell.

What saddens me the most is that these are the people who could so easily put right the depredations of our current venal and dishonest leaders, and produce the kind of caring, sharing, society we could all take pride in. Sad because they are for the most part too honourable ever to get involved in politics.

Don T.

Subject: RE: BS: There are still some good kids
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 03 Nov 07 - 09:42 AM

Informal arrangements like that, set up among acquaintances (who usually become friends) are going on around the world, one hopes. I made weekly visits to help care for an acquaintance for several years, running errands, cooking, cleaning house, signing her up for services as we learned about them (she was severely disabled and had to take early retirement, only on social security). People at those service points pay attention to these informal but vital relationships and I would get calls every so often if they hadn't seen my friend for a while. Wanting to be sure she was okay. When she died my life became easier but it was also less rich, from being able to help her. This practice by these students will hopefully be the first step in lives that look out for others. Simple things can make such a big difference in the lives of others who can't do for themselves.

SRS

Subject: RE: BS: There are still some good kids
From: Rapparee
Date: 03 Nov 07 - 09:25 AM

There are a LOT of good kids around. Almost all of them, in fact. Like the good adults, you just don't hear about them.

Subject: RE: BS: There are still some good kids
From: Sandra in Sydney
Date: 03 Nov 07 - 09:05 AM

I remember a story years ago about a man who wanted to create a newspaper that only printed good news.

It died, people didn't want to read only good news.

Thanks for sharing that story, Kat

sandra

Subject: RE: BS: There are still some good kids
From: Backwoodsman
Date: 03 Nov 07 - 06:23 AM

There are lots of good kids IMHO. They hugely outnumber the bad kids. They just don't get the same publicity that the bad ones get, because they aren't 'in yer face' the way the bad ones are, and stories about bad kids sell lots of newspapers.
That's a nice story, Kat.

Subject: BS: There are still some good kids
From: katlaughing
Date: 03 Nov 07 - 03:40 AM

You may listen to this at CBS News. I thought it was really inspiring:

At Vermont's Middlebury College, one of the longest-running and deeply respected traditions is a ritual called "picking up Butch," CBS News correspondent Steve Hartman reports for Assignment America.

It's carried out by two or three freshman athletes before every home football and basketball game. And last weekend, the honor fell to Jamal Davis, Ashton Coghlan and Ryan Wholey.

"I had heard so much about it and other guys had done it," one aid. "It's kind of like a rite of passage I guess. If you're a freshman you pick up Butch."

The custom dates back to 1960, when a student did it for a football game. It was supposed to be a one-time thing, and yet nearly 50 years later they're still picking up Butch.

"It's kind of cool to know you're carrying on a tradition that's so big - and has been going on so long," one said.

How does the ritual go? It all begins, quite literally … by picking up a man named Butch at his home and setting him comfortably in his wheel chair.

The kids then bundle him up and wheel him off. Basketball players take him to football games and football players to basketball games.

"Thank you guys for doing this for me," Butch said.

Butch Varno was born with cerebral palsey. He was also born with Middlebury College blue in his veins.

Since that first kid gave him a ride back when Butch was 14, hundreds of students have brought him to thousands of games. Some, like one Hartman met named Kevin, are second-generation Butch picker-uppers.

"His father used to take care of me 30 years ago," Butch said.

It's pretty easy to tell how much Butch enjoys this tradition. But to understand how much he needs it, all you have to do is ask him where he'd be without these kids.

"I'm going to say this and I'm only saying it once," he said. "I would be severely depressed."

It's that big a part of his life?

"Yea, because that's the only thing I can do for fun," Butch said.

As for what the kids get out of it, obviously, a compassion for those less fortunate … perhaps an appreciation for what they have.

But more than anything: "He has such a positive outlook on life. He puts a smile on your face when you see him," one student said.

"I have a fun time just being with him," another student said. "It's great, It's a great feeling."

Funny, they call it "picking up Butch," but the truth is, Butch has picked up quite a few people himself.

"Next week, right?" one of the students asked.

"Of course, of course," the others said.

And now you don't even have to be an athlete to be part of the tradition. Recently the school started a club called "Butch's Team," where students get together and help Butch with physical therapy, tutoring, etc. In fact, not long ago Butch got his high school diploma.


© MMVII, CBS Interactive, Inc. All Rights Reserved.