6. Truly, the Cruelty of Teachers

I remember when they used to give out recorders in school, they were always fun to play but always seemed like a lamer version of flutes to me. It only occurs to me as an adult how much of a horror it must have been for the parents to have to deal with a child playing one in the house. Those shrill sounds are ear-grinding.

In hindsight, maybe playing the violin wasn’t much nicer for people to hear either. All that being said, as a parent, you still want to try and encourage your child to harness a skill. Maybe one day that horrible trumpet-blowing of the neighbor’s child will become a professional trumpeter in an orchestra.