It's an Outrage!It was one of the most disgusting, degrading spectacles I have ever seen. Young men in their prime, forced to prostitute themselves for money. Last night, the local high school soccer team auctioned off its players in a fundraiser to buy new nets for the field. (The old nets were full of holes. I explained to my sons that nets are made with holes. They’re supposed to be there. “No, Dad,” they said. “These are different holes.”)
It was so horrible, watching these innocent young men forced to prance down the track to disco music as their coach, the molder of their character, the leader of the team, the man these boys trusted to provide a moral compass, cracked wise about their character flawsin order to liven up the audience. The boys grinned mechanically as they pranced across the runway, but you could see the innocence dying in their eyes as they awakened to the callous, mercenary nature of the capitalist system.
The eyes of the bidders glowed in lascivious anticipation as the auction began.
“Fifteen dollars!”
“Twenty!”
“Twenty one!”
“Thirty!”
“Sold!” The gavel would drop and a soul would die.
The bidding escalated as the night wore on, until boys who would only have fetched fifteen dollars at the beginning of the auction were going for fifty and sixty dollars. Boys who had been sold cheaply earlier in the auction hung their heads in shame as the bids got higher and higher. Even their short time in bondage taught them that their only worth was in how much they could bring on the auction block.
Finally, the auction ended, and I was allowed to bring my boys home, although they still have to serve their three hours of slavery this weekend. The auction may be over, but the scars will remain for a lifetime. There’s no telling how many times I will awaken in the night, hearing their sobs as they relive the degradation and humiliation in their nightmares.
This wanton abuse of my children shall not go unpunished. I’m going to sue the parents who took part in the auction, the coach, the school, and because they are all poor, I’m also going to sue Adidas. (They supplied the uniforms for the team, so they are liable.) My kids are due reparations for the scarring they suffered on the auction block, the hours they toiled without compensation, and their loss of dignity.
I think I’ll call Charles Ogletree and Randall Robinson and see if they’ll put Johnnie Cochran on this case. It’s certainly no sillier than the one they’re pushing now.
Posted by Rich at April 18, 2002 3:54 AM