Spelling Bee contestant # 18 needs a hug

[SoCalDem]

He's only 13?? He looks like a grown up :)

This poor kid either has the world's worst posture, or no one thought to adjust the microphone..and now thanks to "the interwebs/series of toooobs", his pic is now one of the "most e-mailed".. I hope he's up to it :evilgrin:



Speller Alex J. Clifton Wells, 13, of San Diego, California, participates in Round II of the 2009 National Spelling Bee in Washington May 27, 2009.
REUTERS/Larry Downing (UNITED STATES SOCIETY IMAGES OF THE DAY)

[Midlodemocrat]

1. He's adorable and people making fun of a 13yo are seriously fucked up shitwads.

[SoCalDem]

5. Our middle son was wearing 32-34 pants and XL tee shirts

when he was in 7th grade.. he towered over everyone in his class, and was totally uncoordinated on anything but a surfboard:) (he tore his ACL tripping over a sprinkler head )..

and he was called "Lurch" by more than a couple of kids at school..until he cleaned their clocks for them:)

[Bucky]

2. Doesn't help he's got the facial structure of a 27 year old

God, teen years suck for most of us.

[Cronopio]

6. If he's tall as well as smart it's a double whammy on his confidence.

He's not unusual. Children have been physically maturing earlier for years.

http://www.eurweb.com/story/eur38854.cfm
http://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/05/04/earlier-puberty-in-european-girls/
http://www.salon.com/mwt/broadsheet/feature/2009/05/18/menarche_gene/

[proud2BlibKansan]

3. Hey the winner is from my county! And she's a public school kid!

:woohoo:

[MADem]

4. Maybe he has a dash of Asperger's, and simply doesn't give a crap how he looks?

Some see it as a "disorder," others as a gift--it's all in the POV.

That would leave him all the more time to focus on a topic of overarching interest, like spelling.

He looks like he might have a bit of hemiparesis working, too--hard to tell from a still pic, but his right side looks less developed than his left.

[pacalo]

7. I'm sorry, but I'm too politically correct to have a sense of humor.

In my narrow-minded world, every so-called humorous picture should be eyed with extreme caution & categorized accordingly:

-- "He may have a disease"

-- "He may be a victim of child nglect or abuse

I don't tolerate a sense of humor & will take every opportunity to show my moral superiority when someone tries to lighten up discussion boards with so-called humor. I'll do my best to shut the thread down with my wet blanket of faux rage. There are too many things to be sad about without clouding our beautiful minds with humor.

:evilgrin:

[Gabi Hayes]

8. blow me

Politically incorrect enough for you?

[pacalo]

11. And they continue to come out of the woodwork.

[Midlodemocrat]

20. .

:thumbsup:

[Duncan Grant]

10. Why don't you post a photo of your kid?

You can laugh along with all of us.

[pacalo]

12. See response #11.

[Duncan Grant]

13. I'd be happy to mock your kid, too.

DU's new low: Kid threads.

[Gabi Hayes]

21. c'mon.....put your money where your mouth is....

on second thought....

sounds like your opinion, though, is much appreciated, huh?

and since you're so unPC, this won't bother, will it?

[Gabi Hayes]

22. take the plunge....

[pacalo]

23. Being called an "asshole" by self-righteous, self-appointed PC police doesn't bother me. Nope.

Rather, I get flashbacks of scenes like this:



:eyes:

[BlooInBloo]

9. Grats to him and all the kids - I love the spelling bee!

[rurallib]

14. That black kid from Terre Haute was a hoot

He was sure enjoying the contest. NPR had an interview with him this afternoon. Sounds like a great young man.

[marmar]

15. He looks like Phillip Seymour Hoffman....

n/t

[SoCalDem]

16. When I saw the thumbnail pic on AP's site, I thought it was

a picture of Will Ferrell..

[Bluebear]

17. Congrats to Alex! What an accomplishment.

:)

[Bluebear]

18. Look at the photo that the Las Vegas paper chose to run of its winner after her loss.

http://www.lvrj.com/news/46453802.html

Jerks.

[hfojvt]

19. not to worry

as a white male our racist and sexist society will still cater to his every whim