I, too, heard about the obnoxious couple at the Rangers game who cold-heartedly stole the ball away from the little kid and gloated over it. So I watched the video, readily available online, to watch the heinous act for myself.

I guess Roy didn't see the same video I saw. First of all, the player who picked up the foul ball did not toss it to the kid in question. He tossed it generically into the stands. If he was trying to toss it to that specific kid, he needs to be demoted to the minors, because his aim was way off.

The fact is, the ball was tossed into the stands and a large number of hands went out to try to catch the ball. It was batted around and eventually ended up in the hands of the fellow that Roy thinks is "The Biggest Bum In Texas."

I have been around for over half a century and have attended more baseball games than I can count. In my experience, there is a manly code that governs what an adult male fan does with a baseball that fortunately comes into his possession. (In no circumstance is the man allowed to keep the ball.) It goes like this:

1. If you brought a kid to the game, you give the ball to that kid.

2. If you have a date (wife/girlfriend) for the game, you give the ball to your date. She may then keep the ball or bestow it upon anyone she wishes.

3. If neither 1 nor 2 applies, you locate a nearby kid and give the ball to the kid.

In this case, the male fan who ended up with the ball had no kid with him, and per #2 correctly gave the ball to his lady friend.

Now you can argue all day long that his date could, and perhaps should, have given the ball to the now-screaming kid, but since she had just been presented said ball by her gentleman friend, she can certainly be forgiven for not doing so. No one is allowed to question what a lady does with her foul ball. If she wants to get her picture made with the ball, good for her.

What really bugs me the most about this whole scenario is the sense of entitlement on behalf of the kid who missed out on the ball. Not directed toward him specifically - after all, he's just a little kid. But what about the adults like Roy who "take up his cause?"

This was a perfect opportunity for an (early) life lesson for this kid. You don't always get what you want. At some point in life, you have to learn to buck up and deal with it. This would have been a perfect time for an early reinforcement of that tough but undeniable fact.

Instead, the kid gets a substitute baseball. The fact of the baseball's possession is irrelevant. After all, it's just a $3 baseball. You can buy one in WalMart seven days a week. But what it teaches the kid is, scream and cry loudly enough and you will get what you want. Now that's a great way to set an example for the future. Not.

There are no winners here. The kid has been taught the wrong lesson. The couple who got the ball have been nationally vilified. The Rangers organization is out an extra baseball. And with salaries going the way they are, every $3 counts.

The losers are all of us. Because if all Americans see that the way to get something you want is to make a scene and wait for some external force to make the situation right at someone else's expense, then maybe there really is no hope.

Joe Dumas

Signal Mountain