paying attention

 There are times when I sit down to write about the things of my youth and gets confused. Then I wonder if it was just that I wasn't paying attention. I heard that a lot from my teachers in school, maybe they were on to something. Well, that and they were always wanting me to " buckle " down. Buckle down, what is this Little House on the Prairie ? I had those elastic straps with hooks on the end. They have since been outlawed as too dangerous. Guess I wasn't paying attention to that either. Anyway, it seems a lot of history passed by me unnoticed. More likely it passed by without me questioning it. I just took things as they happened I suppose, and in some ways I still do. History has a way of repeating itself we have all heard that, and there is much truth in it. The truth stems from the fact that people really don't change all that much generation to generation. There were bad people doing bad things back then and there are bad people doing bad things today. As to whether the things are worse today, that is all subjective. You do have to start out with the premise that there are degrees of wrong don't you ? Yes there is depending upon what society accepts as right and wrong. The only real change is in the degree of punishment. We tend toward leniency today, a mistake in my estimation. I believe that punishment is a deterrent to crime. Spare the rod and spoil the child.
 I was raised to mind my own p's and q's.  I was told that meant mind your manners and behave yourself. It could also mean don't stick your nose into other peoples' business. I'm thinking that is why I wasn't paying attention to what was going on around me as much as some others may have been. I was too busy watching my p's and q's. Seemed like my p's and q's got out of control fairly easy. When that happened it was met with punishment. That's right, let those things get out of hand and you're in trouble. So, the best advice was to mind your own affairs and let others mind theirs.         Seems these days a lot of folks are not heeding that advice and sticking their noses in where it don't belong. It is a particularity easy thing to do when you are untouchable, hiding behind a keyboard. All this mass communication can lead to trouble. We have seen proof enough of that following the last election. The reason is simple enough to understand, people aren't minding their p's and q's. P's and q's are everywhere ! Time to round'em up and put'em in the corral where they belong.
 Speaking of today's world I must have missed a few memo's somewhere along the way. I mean take all this " coming out " stuff we hear about. If you were hiding something it was because you knew it was wrong in some way. That's why you hid it ! But now, you just " come out " and admit it. So, somehow,  in some fashion,  that makes it right. Just who issued that memo ? I was told I would be punished to the full extent of law ! Somewhere along the line full extent came to mean a second chance, rehabilitation and job placement services. 
 Well  I remember when there were only two sexes, that's how old I am. The latest memo says your parents can choose gender x, have that put on the birth certificate. You can then decide for yourself, later on, depending upon how you feel, or just stay an X.  I understand all this gender stuff can be confusing to some folks. Why complicate life by having to decide ?  I don't know, I was paying attention to all of that when I was a kid and still do as a matter of fact. I noticed right away that girls were different than the boys. Fact is I spent a good deal of time discovering just what that difference was. No one ever told me I had a choice ! Was it that I wasn't paying attention ? No, that's not it at all. I was paying attention, minding my p's and q's. I didn't know what other folks were doing in that regard and really didn't care. I still do and I still don't.