T-E-A-M

Being in an audience has always interested me. I love listening to people talk, partly because I engage those people in conversations in my mind. They don't know it, but I argue with them, agree with them, tell them related stories, and sometimes help them find just the right line they should say. I guess I interact with people's words.

The other day I was listening to someone, and they used a lot of trite management sayings. The one that disturbed me that day was, "There is no 'I' in 'Team.'" There is, however, 'me' in 'team.'

Me
It's all about me. When people say, "there is no 'I' in 'Team,'" what they mean, I think, is that it is not all about the person. It is about the team. But if you think about it, when people are more concerned with themselves, they may indicate that it is all about me. The height of selfishness.

Then I started thinking about other words you could make with team.

Met
I wonder if the Mets say, "there is a Met in team." Probably not, but those letters are also in team. Baseball, to me, doesn't really seam like a team sport. Everyone is concerned with stats on individual players. The hitters stand alone in the batter's box, and when someone new joins the team, it seems like they can just step in and play. No getting to know the teammates, learning the new plays, and insert other sports-related examples here. I am not much of a baseball fan.

Mat
Not sure mats have anything to do with teams. Teams can be doormats, I suppose. Just thinking about my yellow jackets, I suppose.

Eat
Football teams eat whole cows before games, I suppose, but I don't think there is anything prosaic about having the word "eat" in team.

Meat
Similarly, the word "meat" is in team. And "tea" is in team.

After thinking about all of this, I can't remember what that guy was talking about. I guess his phrase about "I" not being in "Team" sort of defeated the purpose that morning.