Not being able to keep up

Ducklings gathering on the water — that’s what Suzi compared the kids in the youth sailing program to as they gathered on their little boats for their Portland waterfront excursion.

Some of them seemed to be getting it more than others, while one little boy figured out that if he shook his rudder really fast back and forth, it would propel his boat forward.

That worked until he bumped the boat in front of him. So much for that.

As we walked along the waterfront, we caught their progress a couple times, and after a while, it seemed like they had everything pretty well sorted.

The little boats were in a line, with a motorboat — we assume controlled by the teacher — among them.

In back were slightly larger sailboats — maybe with other teachers, maybe with parents.

And among those larger boats was one smaller one.

It took about two seconds for us to come up with a story: the way the little guy (we have no idea if the child was a boy or girl, by the way) felt when he realized he couldn’t keep up, maybe some anguish, maybe some tears, adults gathering around to help him along as best they could.

We have no idea if that’s what actually happened, or even if the setup was what we thought it was, but interesting how quickly we were able to project childhood insecurities on the situation.

Also, let’s not kid anyone; insecurities about not being able to keep up, especially doing something new, is an adult thing, too.