As a millennial, at no point did we actually want participation trophies. The feeling of coming in last was not changed in the slightest by receiving a junk trophy.
this post was submitted on 25 Jun 2025
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It was never about the kids, it was about the boomer parents that got jealous seeing other kids with trophies around other petty boomer parents
Yo you could post that in showerthoughts. That's such an insightful take.
Are there also shitterthoughts?
I have those right next to my shower thoughts.
And the boomer shrinks who were a bit too laser focused on self esteem during the 80s and 90s
Trophies were forced upon us. I didn’t even like the idea of getting a trophy if I won. I won, neat, I don’t need a gold-colored plastic guy hitting a baseball to help me remember that 2-1 game against another collection of school children.
I certainly didn’t need a wood cutout of me posing on home plate. It was tee-ball, I stopped playing after six months.
I never got a trophy for anything, but I did like the medal I got for my first wrestling win.. it wasn’t, like, any big thing, but we were against a specific school that has a good program, it was my first year, I was the only girl on the team.. and I won by techfall.
It was definitely a participation trophy of sorts, but it actually felt ok to get. It was engraved to read “for beating your [school] opponent, and first win”
We, as a team, lost to them. Badly.
Getting a tech for your first win, especially in a match where your team got crushed is a big deal, especially for a new athlete. I wouldn't call anything about that a participation trophy.
In fact, one of my proudest memories as a HS wrestler was losing by one in a dual meet against our rivals where the coaches asked me to wrestle up two weight classes and my goal was "don't get teched or pinned." I lost, but I did my part and the team won (so the inverse of your sitch). I would say that an individual win and team loss or an individual loss but team win are both worth celebrating. That's one of my favorite things about wrestling is that you can have a good day regardless of who the team is facing or how everyone else does.
Thanks, that means a lot to me :) I’ve definitely always viewed it as a participation trophy of sorts, but you’re right; my team was absolutely over the moon for me.
I always liked wrestling for the same reason, it’s an individual sport with camaraderie. Two chances to feel like a winner! Did it for 6 years, was a good time.
They expected me to treasure that bullshit too. Kept my seventh-place ribbons in a box for ten years until I threw them the fuck out
It was tee-ball, I stopped playing after six months.
I played t-ball. I struck out in every at-bat ... in t-ball. Fortunately I excelled at defense: coach put me in right field and the other teams were so scared of me they never hit the ball there.
It felt worse. Getting a recognition certificate or a white ribbon for coming fourth was a total bummer to my care-factor for participating. Kick a kid while they're down and they're not likely to be motivated.
I personally never cared about them, usually lost them on my way home
Right I didn't want to be there anyway.
20 years later my moms like, "don't you want your old trophies?" I said no. Those are your trophies.
You forgot the punctuation!
It was the Boomers who "needed" and forced these trophies on their kids (in the same way they forced sports on some of us) because their fragile egos needed their kids to be "successful" in a useless and arbitrary way.
Also Boomers: Not actually doing anything for veterans suffering from PTSD, mental illness more broadly, poverty and homelessness.
"Well it's not MY fault they shot some Vietnamese kid in the face and now have nightmares and a paralyzing fear of fireworks. Guess they should have thought about that before getting drafted."
/S
You forgot the part about Dying in Vietnam, that's the reason that they aren't getting the support that they need.
Vietnam hats aren't trophies. They're badges of survivors. They know they lost. They were fucked by our govt while they were there, they got their asses kicked and then came home to a population that didn't see them as heroes like previous soldiers has experienced. Everything about that war was a shit show and it's no surprise so many of those vets couldn't transition back into civilian life.
And many came back with serious health and mental problems too! I know I was married 2 Vietnam vets. The fought and suffered for their government.
You're not wrong, but like, ouch.
They are wrong, for the premise is wrong. Being open about the trauma they suffered is no participation trophy. Being a veteran of a war is a burden and not an achievement.
"I raped and murdered innocent people I'm the victim"
I'm almost got mad until i saw what community i was in
I couldn't name anyone I knew who actually went through the shit of Vietnam and wore one of those hats proudly.
They were exclusively for the ranks of the Texas Air National Guard, the straight up draft dodgers who wanted to look cool with their chud friends, and the handful of sociopaths who thought burning down people's homes was cool.
I have a relative that was in Nam and wears that hat, but he claims he was POG. I have another relative who lied about his age to get into Nam, who definitely was in the shit, and he doesn't wear the hat.
O O F
Big O O F
I feel like there's a meme to be made about trump wanting a peace prize, while bombing other countries, while hating participation trophies, but also thinking he deserves one just for being president ....
Side note, I highly recommend the podcast episode of Between The Covers where Dao Strom is interviewed about her collection of poetic fragments You Will Always Be Someone From Somewhere Else. It gives some really interesting perspective on Vietnam and the wake of the Vietnam war especially as a counterpoint to the incomplete US perspective that is still only interested in certain stories about Vietnam and about Vietnamese.
https://tinhouse.com/podcast/dao-strom-you-will-always-be-someone-from-somewhere-else/
They're still convinced they got cheated out of victory by liberals.
Yet another 'stabbed in the back' myth...