There are times when stuff like this alternates between ticking me off and getting a well deserved "huzzah" for an important life lesson.
This particular situation got a "huzzah" for some great life lessons. You may have seen the dust up about the 12 year old Jeopardy contestant who felt he was "cheated" when he misspelled the correct answer on his Jeopardy final round. If you didn't you can read about it here.
In any game show, contestants are given a thorough explanation of what the rules are. I'm sure in this case, the rules were explained in such a way that a 12 year old could comprehend. I'd be willing to bet that they even did mock game runs to ensure the kids understood the rules as they are implemented in the game.
The young man in question was in second place, had zero hope of winning because he was far enough behind the leader that even if he had bet it all, he still wouldn't have won. (The leader amassed a $66,000 lead to his $9,600 end amount) As it was, the leader bet big thus ensuring his victory.
After his answer was disqualified due to it's misspelling, the boy later went on to state that he felt cheated because he had the correct answer and it was just a simple spelling error. It would seem that the Twitterverse was on his side as well, calling out Alex Trebek and the show in general for penalizing a kid over a spelling error. I disagree with with them and here's why.
1. There are times when you don't have SpellCheck available and you must know how to spell the words yourself. The over reliance on spellcheck by people has left this blogger in a tizzy at times because while a word may be spelled correctly, it's not the right word (think to, too and two). The lesson...you have to know how to spell and you must check your work. Always. Spelling counts. Always. Even as an adult educator, I tell anyone who does work for me that spelling does count. It can make a huge difference in how a sentence is given context within the rest of the paper. Growing up means that you have to understand the importance of being detail oriented in the work that you present to others. I've had students write great papers conceptually, but their execution was so poor that I wondered if this person would ever be able to get a job that didn't include the phrase "do you want fries with that?".
2. Learn how to lose gracefully. Not everyone gets to be number 1. The cliche that fits this one is "it's not whether you win or lose, but how you play the game." You were outplayed, simple as that. Given the disparities in the final money amounts, there was no way you could have won anyways. You don't have to like losing and I hope this spurs you on to greatness but whining about being cheated when you knew the rules ahead of time is just a case of sour grapes. The lesson...learning how to lose gracefully means you don't blame others for things YOU did. I promise you that this will not be the only time that you will feel cheated about something.
3. Don't settle for wanting to be rewarded for mediocrity. You may have felt cheated but what you were really asking for is to be rewarded for being mediocre. I hope that your parents will have a chat with your about always doing your absolute best in any situation. One shouldn't be rewarded for putting a 95% effort in. (But you did since you still went home with $2,000 anyways).
To the young man I would tell him that in the scheme of things, he had a chance to learn some great life lessons and that I hope that this small moment in his early life doesn't define the person he will grow to become. He can choose to feel cheated or he can take the life lessons and run with them, becoming a better man for it in the end.
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