empathy

I always feel badly for people when they are embarrassed. I feel their embarrassment, and wish I could take it away for them. I was reminded of my strong empathetic leanings this past week when I went out for a night of fun and sports.
Who ever came up with picking teams? You stand there with a fake smile on their face, watching as those on either side of them are picked...desperately hoping that you won't be the last. It's even worse when you aren't 'picked' but are the very last person, so you're just 'assigned' to a team. They never even call your name, or pick you from the line-up, you just walk over because the other team already picked the last person standing with you. I hate the team-picking process, whether I've been picked yet or not. I either feel very self-conscience as I wait to be picked, or I feel sorry for those not picked yet. I really think teams should just be 'made' with one person dividing the players into 2 teams as fairly as possible. This avoids those awkward, embarrassed feelings completely.

And really, having a 'bat till you hit the ball' rule, as opposed to the '3 strikes and you're out', is SO wrong! It's one thing if it's a small child who's learning...but when the 15 year old has been swinging at air for 10 minutes (literally), it gets really embarrassing for all involved. The 'Good eye! Make him pitch it to ya' started sounding flat after 3 minutes, and after 5 minutes even the 'You can do it' encouragements had a desperate, embarrassed sound to them.
It's much better to 'strike out' after three throws, than to 'strike out' for 10 minutes straight.