If I had to name the two things I hated most in elementary school they would be PhyEd class in general and the ParticipAction program in particular. Being born with a congenital heart defect forced me to sit out the more aerobic activities (lest my heart go into fibrillation) and I was miserable about it, to say the least.
Whenever the ParticipAction program rolled around it would just remind me of all the things other kids could do that I wasn’t allowed to. I would engage in those activities that I could, but they were never enough to earn me one of the bronze, silver, or gold badges that I coveted. No, I got the “you’re a loser” consolation pin instead.
My hatred of the ParticipAction program became visceral. I imagined that the people behind it were all fucking evil bastards—the lowest of the low.
It turns out that I was right.