Buried in our devices

I appreciate Iowans for their appreciation of the slower parts of life. I feel as if I am surrounded by people who are expert, patient listeners who always have time on their hands, and I've tried hard to model that behavior. Recently however, I realized that this view of peaceful living may just be my own rose-colored ideas. Or, perhaps I've idealized it too much.  My realization came about during the Science Olympiad, of all places.  This is a competition for middle school and high school students.  They take tests, build stuff, follow directions and receive ranks/awards based on their science knowledge.  Topics vary.  My son and his classmates have been studying for this event since December. I didn't attend any interim events - most of what they did was closed to the public. I did make it to this final ceremony, where the state honors were being given in each category.  There were at least a dozen categories and 1st through 3rd place were awarded in each category, sometimes for both middle school and high school. So, a lot of awards were being given.  My gloomy realization came about as I watched the coaches and parents in attendance.  You see, I made an effort to applaud for every award winner that day. I really thought they deserved a moment of recognition for the hard work they put into achieving their place.  I am sure, or at least I hope that the other adults in attendance felt the same way,but I really couldn't be sure as very few we're applauding!  This is Iowa!  Where were the role models here??  I did see a few parents on their mobile devices.  Perhaps they were posting comments about how proud they were of their children, as was I.  I can't say that I managed to applaud for every single award; I'm sure I missed a few. But, I really did try.  I was a bit distraught over the fact that not even my own team's coaches modeled that behavior.  If we don't model simple appreciation and good sportsmanship, how will our kids learn it?  The incident made me appreciate coaches that go out of their way to teach these ideas to their athletes.  I had been convinced that we here in Mount Vernon, IA had a corner on polite behavior.  Sadly, perhaps not.  I still believe that Iowans are a more appreciative sort of people, but this recent experience has perhaps lowered the pedestal just a bit.