Blogtrek

Virginia Beach

I went to a Toastmasters conference on Virginia Beach this weekend. I found it to be an interesting place. The colors of the buildings are colors that can't be named very easily; for example, is it yellow or green? Is it purple or pink? I call such colors Miami Vice colors, naming them after the television program. They were abundant at Virginia Beach. The beach there is interesting - one can run around in bare feet on it because for the most part there are no shells. There is a concretewalk (it is not a boardwalk since it is not made of boards) along the beaches separating them from a long line of high-rise hotels designed to give the maximum number of people a view of the ocean from their room.
There was a bunch of rambunctious teenagers or young adults there and they filled up the swimming pool. The most interesting things there were the signs that say spiral lightningstroke sharp !! with a cross over it indicating "no". In other words, no cursing or using foul language. To me it is a commentary on American culture, especially that of young people that signs are required that are like this. Other signs use words to say that no obscene language, sexual behavior and so forth is allowed on the streets, and also that violation of the law is prohibited. Huhh? Where in this large world of ours is it ever permitted? That would be a contradiction.

The conference featured two contests: a table topics contest and a 5-7 minute speech contest. In the table topics contest a topic is given. This year it is: What is your road like? That is an interesting question. I say in my case that it started straight, had to detour and led me to being lost in the woods. Others came up with their own answers, including some with a circuitous route (rhymes with "clout") and some with a straight route (rhymes with "boot") in which the person knew what he was going to do. The 5-7 minute speech (or International Speech) contest included one speaker decrying the human tendency to keep score. They did a wrong to us so we got to do it back to them. Give unto them as you would have them give unto you. They entertained us so we got to entertain them. The speaker debunked this notion and suggested that doing what you honestly want is better than trying to keep score. However, Toastmasters, with all of its point systems, including that for Distinguished Club, Distinguished District, and so forth, notoriously keeps score on everything. Maybe Toastmasters is not that healthy.

I say join Toastmasters, improve your speaking and leadership skills, and forget the points.