As I have often stated on application forms and in numerous job interviews, “The Great Raymondo has excellent team-working skills, and understands the importance of working as part of a group to pursue a common goal”.
When asked to give examples, I may talk about past family situations, when I have successfully passed the gravy to my sister Cat ‘the Deserter’ Edwards, so that we can reach our common goal of getting fed; or about work situations, when I have successfully and repeatedly passed messages on To The Right Person, and have been known to use kick-ass phrases learned from Eleanor 'the cat collector’s Management-Trainer mother, such as ‘how can we find a mutually effective solution to this problem?’
There is one area of life, however, in which I am inclined to let the side down on a regular basis : when practicing team sports. When forced into a line up of 7 for netball or of 5 for hockey, my mad-sharp team-working skills seem to disappear: my once famed communication skills dissolve and I am unable to express my thoughts in phrases other than ‘I’m sorry!’ ‘I didn’t see her coming!’ or ”@*&!”; and I utterly lose sight of the common goal (or, on some occasions which I do not care to recall, I aim for the wrong one).
When asked to give examples, I may talk about past family situations, when I have successfully passed the gravy to my sister Cat ‘the Deserter’ Edwards, so that we can reach our common goal of getting fed; or about work situations, when I have successfully and repeatedly passed messages on To The Right Person, and have been known to use kick-ass phrases learned from Eleanor 'the cat collector’s Management-Trainer mother, such as ‘how can we find a mutually effective solution to this problem?’
There is one area of life, however, in which I am inclined to let the side down on a regular basis : when practicing team sports. When forced into a line up of 7 for netball or of 5 for hockey, my mad-sharp team-working skills seem to disappear: my once famed communication skills dissolve and I am unable to express my thoughts in phrases other than ‘I’m sorry!’ ‘I didn’t see her coming!’ or ”@*&!”; and I utterly lose sight of the common goal (or, on some occasions which I do not care to recall, I aim for the wrong one).
This fact was well known to fellow classmates of the Miniature Great Raymondo. In PE lessons, I was often the last to be picked for a team, and regularly found myself on the bench. In fact, my esteemed classmates would sometimes pick the bench for their teams before picking me. It was certainly much more skilled defensively, and unlike the Great Raymondo, always remembered that in netball it had to Stand Still when in possession of the ball. I always struggled with this hugely counter-intuitive rule, and after catching the ball would gallop off like a wild horse in celebration, imagining the sound of the ref’s 'foul' whistles were merely the sound of the wind as I sliced through the air like a lightning bolt.
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Proficient as Goal Defence |
When playing Rounders (losers' baseball) I always snapped up the position of Right field defender, and would go so far rightfield I was almost up against the railings. At this distance, and with so little to do, I would be left to Make My Own Fun, and once I took off my team’s sash to see whether or not I could tie my hands up to such an extent that I couldn’t free myself. It was at the Eureka moment when they were bound in such an ingenious way that not even Houdini could free me that the ball, (possessed by wily demons, as most balls are), decided to fly in my direction. Of course, I was not in a position to do much about it.
In conclusion, If you really wish to see the Great Raymondo let A Side Down, put her in a pair of hockey socks, stick her in a cold muddy field and tell her to have a positive mental attitude. Something deep inside her will rebel, everytime.
we have more in common than I realised :)
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