Doing someone else's job

[RobMoore]

This is my first season shooting IDPA and IPSC. Practicing for it has improved my fundamentals greatly, and while I've screwed those up in at least one stage at every match so far, its never been all that bad. Never 20 seconds worth of bad, like I did at my state IDPA championships.

Out of 11 stages, I can say that I shot 8 of them to the best of my ability, 2 of them could have been a little better, and the one left is the one I'm about to detail.

We were in a "bay" with 3 stages, with my squad split up bewteen them rotating around. As is normally the case, everyone took turns shooting, then scoring. As I'm on my last of those three stages, I'm waiting my turn watching the shooter in the next stage over go. As he finishes I turn back to my stage to run my plan through my head one more time before I have to LAMR. I then hear a shooter in another stage being told to LAMR. I turn around and see the squad trailing us starting to shoot one of the stages in the bay my squad is occupying. I begin to concern myself with why that squad is shooting out of turn. I was next, why am I being skipped, ect ect ect.

Long story short, I huffed for a minute, shot my stage, and thought I'd done well....until it was scored. I had neglected to remember the final two targets required headshots. So, my two -0 hits were actually 2 misses per target plus the Failure to Neutralize earns me 20 extra seconds for my score that could have been avoided.

If I had just worried about my job (stage prep, keep my head in the game, shoot the course) my 6th place finish could have been 1st in class. No, I decided the match needed my input to run smoothly.

I hope in the future this will remind me to do my job, not someone else's.

[Mr Glack]

...

If I had just worried about my job (stage prep, keep my head in the game, shoot the course) my 6th place finish could have been 1st in class. No, I decided the match needed my input to run smoothly.

I hope in the future this will remind me to do my job, not someone else's.

You have a valid complaint. You are not alone.

I'm not a joiner by nature (see other threads on this point) probably has a lot to do with 'group dynamics' such as you call attention to. In my experience any group of people has some members that put more into it than they take out. There are also those take more than they give; and even some that are just there. Sad to say USPSA did not break this model. But ...

I really enjoy this sport because of some great people I have met in it. Each one that I admire puts more into it than they take out. It's people like these that have made this a uniquely fantastic experience.

Experiences like yours test your spirit. Be mad for a while and vent. Don't expect things to be much different though, do what you can to change a piece of it, and then get over it. Keep on being the contributor you started out to be. Volunteers are needed to keep this thing we love healthy.

[RobMoore]

Oh yes, I don't think I could ever get over wanting to contribute, but in the future I won't do it when its game time. I'll volunteer my off-time.

Edited May 22, 2007 by RobMoore

[Clyde]

Amen - Got all worked up at Area 6 - (Expected to much out of Squad mates)

Finally Got happy in the pants I got mad in.

Had a good Time inspite of my self.