. . . Grade IV is Grade IV, Grade III is Grade III.
We are all still in GrIV. They are going to continue with the same system, moving people up one by one when they are deemed qualified.
Several people are happy about this.
1. Dave - is digging his heels in about being MORE competitive, and doesn't want to go to GrIII. He's very happy to maintain the status quo. Amount of time available to fill with practicing is probably at a minimum for him, too. He's happy with this decision.
2. Small Son - was afraid that when he finally got to pipes and playing with the band as a GrIV, he would be all alone; i.e. no family next to him. He's very happy that I'll still be there to pipe alongside him.
3. Me - I'm happy not to have the extra practice requirements, the added pressure, additional gigs, and the frowns of perhaps-overly-critical GrIII members added on to what I have already. I'm happy to have the same comfortable group of people to practice with every week.
On that same theme, at the end of the party last night Ian handed Small Son an extra box of Award Candy and told him to hurry up and practice so he could play with the band. Because SS responded, "OK", he feels he has promised to keep playing. He thinks he has committed. We'll see if he a) starts showing signs of stress or b) practices more.
There were 17 pizzas left over last night. We took one home. I'm hoping everybody else took one home, too. Or that Ian took the rest of the pizzas to a homeless shelter for re-distribution.
Traditionally, a piper served a 7-year apprenticeship before being unleashed on the unsuspecting public. This is my story.
2 comments:
You hit the nail on the head. There is one other person who (surprisingly) was happy about the decision to remain grade IV - my not so small son the drummer. On the way home he said that next year sounds like it will be fun! Wow, I never expected that from him.
That is EXCELLENT! We need all the drummers we can get, and especially your NSSS (Not So Small Son--he's grown about a foot in the last year, hasn't he?).
Any ideas how the rest of the band can make him feel more welcome and accepted? It always helps if you have friends.
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