<p>This thread has morphed into whether playing the pit is good or bad, or whether the musicians in lmkh’s kid’s pit were treated extremely poorly or just kind of poorly. But the intent of the thread was to ask whether lmkh made a good call when she told her D she didn’t have to perform on the ONE final night of the musical. </p>
<p>I have no problem with monitoring one’s health, or one’s kids’ health, while playing. I, too, have a violist. And I have a violinist. I understand string instruments. (Some of the comments I’ve read here make we wonder if some of these kids are playing instruments that are too big for them. Proper fit is important, too.) And I have a vocalist. Health is important for all.</p>
<p>I feel so strongly that lmkh made the wrong call that it’s hard for me to get my head around the number of parents here who seem to believe that this kid’s discomfort was significant enough to encourage her to renege on her commitment for the one remaining night of a performance.</p>
<p>Reading this thread and the OP’s original thread on the matter <a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/music-major/1452783-should-my-daughter-look-other-majors.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/music-major/1452783-should-my-daughter-look-other-majors.html</a>, it seems glaring to me that the biggest issue for this D and her mom was that she wasn’t getting the recognition she felt she deserved nor the consideration she felt she deserved. And she was a little uncomfortable, was in a little pain, and kept complaining. Consequently, she should justifiably quit on that last night of the performance. What?</p>
<p>I agree that the musical director and orchestra conductor should have given the pit more breaks and shorter rehearsals. They could have treated those kids with more consideration. It DOES sound like a bad experience to me. One that my own kids wouldn’t have liked. I also agree that the conductor should have, at the very least, been recognized in the pit at the end of each show and should have then gestured towards the kids. (As for the other complaints about their lack of recognition – just names in the program, no bios; sitting around for periods of time while the actors work on their stuff – I don’t think that’s a problem. The programs are pretty much always done that way; sitting around while the actors work things out is part of the job.)</p>
<p>I’m probably going to take flack for this next comment, but I kept thinking while reading some of these posts: “No wonder this particular generation is known for their sense of entitlement, their lack of gratitude, their demand for immediate results, their unwillingness to do the grunt work, and so on.” My own kids are part of the generation I’m talking about, and they and their peers have a lot going for them – a lot of strengths. I genuinely REALLY like them! But I DO see what business leaders, employers, colleges, and others surveyed are saying about this particular group of kids. Could it be this parental attitude – But my little Johnny wasn’t happy; he wasn’t feeling well; so, naturally, I told him to just quit – that partially created the problem?</p>
<p>What happened to good old fashioned values? Sticking to one’s commitments? Keeping one’s word? Learning from one’s experiences, even when (or especially when) uncomfortable? Letting our kids make their own choices and suffer their own consequences rather than interjecting our own self-righteous solutions? </p>
<p>I’m surprised that there are so many people who just glommed onto the poor girl’s discomfort and saw THAT as a justifiable reason to let the whole group down. If she decided towards the beginning of this commitment that she just couldn’t do it – she was in too much pain, or she was too intolerant of the poor treatment – then fine, quit. But to quit on the ONE remaining night of the show because ‘my health is just too important?’ BS. Her health was not on the brink of destruction. One more night wasn’t going to put her over the edge. And her mom’s complaints here on CC centered far more around her ‘mistreatment’ than her health anyway. </p>
<p>Mistake or Not Mistake to encourage this kid to quit on her final night of the performance?</p>