Foolishness

  We are raising a generation of wimps! Listening to the news and the state fire marshal telling parents to give their children glow sticks instead of sparklers. He goes on to explain a sparkler burns at 2000 degrees and can catch your clothes on fire or you could get a spark in your eye. Yeah, well that was the fun part of having the sparkler in the first place. Learned about that stuff really quick and didn't require a reminder and a disclaimer on the product every year. The lesson was burned into your mind. And then he started in on fireworks and how dangerous they are. You could blow yourself up or suffer hearing loss. Hell yeah, that's the best part, blowing things up. But we are being told to keep your children safe, don't allow them to have any real fun, leave that to the professionals. Glow sticks, really? They sell those at the carnival to wear around your neck, nothing too exciting about that. The excitement comes when the sparks start flying.

 We are teaching our children that they are nothing more than victims. Anytime something doesn't go their way it is because of something from the past. They don't stand a chance because all the bad stuff has already happened, and they have to pay the price for that. We are teaching children that there are more than two genders and that they get to choose. Then we provide counseling and support when they discover the truth. We pass legislation making others go along with the role playing. We give awards and accolades for those that are the best players proclaiming them heroes. If they don't get the praise, the reward or the attention they desire, we blame the past. What a bunch of wimps they are becoming, afraid of their own shadow. There could be germs, virus, global warming, social inequity, and the boogy man! We are teaching them that any time they feel uncomfortable about anything they should seek mental health counseling or some pharmaceutical. And everyone around them should empathize with them, comfort and support them, no matter what. Anything other than that is hate! And hate is a crime! 

 We are teaching our children that having a degree guarantees success. If you get that degree, doesn't make any difference what the degree is in, you are then owed a great income. Don't worry about paying that loan back, the peasants with jobs will do that for you, you have a degree. You don't have to take any job offered to you now, you can pick the one you want and tell the employer what's what. Want to work from home, only work four days a week, and get maternity leave because you are a dad, no problem, your degree earned you all of that and more! If no job appeals to you, the government should fund you until you do. You probably have stress and are being treated unfairly. You should probably get disability, or at least an emotional support animal. Oh, and an I-phone with full internet access at no cost to you because that is a necessary thing to have, you know, to find a job. Probably a new electric vehicle too, to save the planet while you're looking for a job. 

 I sure am thankful I grew up when I did. Yeah, I got burned, cut, scraped, bruised, black eyes, broken bones, teased, called names, and caught colds! I went outside in the rain, snow, hot and cold without a backpack full of snacks, water bottles and an ambulance standing by. I had adults order me around and there wasn't anything I could do about that. I had to use the bathroom appropriate to my biology! To do otherwise would get you in big trouble. I was told sticks and stones would break my bones, and that was true enough, but names would never hurt me. I learned that too. Names only hurt me when I allowed them to. I learned I had to value your opinion before that opinion held any sway over me. I played with sparklers, fire crackers, knives, guns, fast cars and motorcycles. I climbed the monkey bars, rode the merry go around and played on the see-saw. I worked to earn a dollar and learned the value of knowing how to actually do things rather than talk about them. Yeah, being real smart and having a college education was a great thing but if that degree in basket weaving didn't pan out it sure helped to know how to cut the grass. I learned there are a lot of educated damn fools in the world. Seems like we are trying to raise a whole generation of them these days! I sure hear enough foolish proposals and thoughts. I got the wrong assignment at birth. Yeah, that makes sense alright.