Life in today's world... vastly different then when I grew up. (Not that I'm a fifty year old man reflecting on his youth after a long battle with a mid-life crises.) Everything changes and I get that, but what the hell. Everything is bad for you. Everyone is fatter, kids get medals for showing up and "trying", people are more sensitive about EVERYTHING, and god for bid some can do something for themselves or live within their means. I know its a lot, but lets take a trip down memory lane. Come, skip with me as we enter my mind. Keep you arms and leg inside at all times.
When I was a kid, life seemed easier. Maybe its because I was young, maybe because the world was different. I don't know. I grew up with the values of the following: Don't be lazy, idle hands are the devil's play toy. Don't complain, no one like to hear it and no one will do anything about it. Do it yourself, who else is going to? Hard work pays off, people tend to notice when you do better. Be respectful to adults and anyone older than you are. (it was just a rule, no explanation was given. We were just expected to follow it.) If you want it, you have to pay for it. My mom and dad paid for the things necessary, but beyond that I had to pay for it.
All these lessons taught me to be who I am. (Is that my consolation prize? If so I want to speak to a manager.) Now in today's world you see parents telling their children to "Use their words." What ever happened to old fashion yelling at your kid? If my mom looked at me, I knew to shut up and sit down. Today Kids run around screaming and crying because the parent wont get them an iPhone. I have a cousin who is a little brat. She complains about everything that her parents don't do. What about being grateful for everything you do have? How about shutting up, sitting down and saying "Thank you mom and dad, that was nice of you." How about that? Children have grown up ungrateful for the things their parents give them. That's because of our culture. We want and GET everything we ask for. As a nation of consumers, and debtors we buy, buy, buy and worry about money later. (Oh, the Founding Fathers must be rolling over continuously in their graves!!!) More! More! MORE! When did we become so greedy?
Lets come back to one of the first things I said in the beginning. Everything is bad for you. Too much sun BAD. To much of this or that type of food is bad for you. When I was younger, everything was OK to eat. We even had the ten second rule and ate it. Now you have kids with horrible immune systems because having a dog might be bad or now that EVERYONE is allergic to peanuts, no one can have them. (People who are allergic to peanuts ruin everything ;) ) When I was younger, no one had a peanut allergy. It simply did not exist, around me at least. Parents are tying so desperately to keep their child away from everything harmful. Dirt, other kids, food, pets etc. Where does it end? Let a kid be a damn kid and play in the dirt and have a pet and eat peanuts. They are a kid for crying out loud.
(A Special Note to the Parents and Teachers who give prizes and awards to kid for just trying. DON"T. Competition make a kid strive! Working hard to get something should be recognized by an award or prize. Showing up and just trying... Last time I checked showing up to work and just trying never worked for my boss or company. If I wanted money I needed to do more that try, I needed to do. Otherwise I would be in the unemployment line with the rest of the "try is good enough" people. Make the kid work for something. This is why China and India are doing better in the world. The U.S. kids do not try anymore. Make them strive for excellence. THEN give them an award.)
Lets talk about money. Oh ho, for the U.S keeps pushing its debt reduction off. People keep going to college and not being able to pay for it. its sad. When I was younger if you could not afford it, you did not get it. I admit, I have fallen victim to this angry beast called the "Credit card." Its a horrible animal that gnaws at you and your bank account until you bleed cash. Is it worth it? Hell NO! I remember my parents asking, "Is it something we need right now?" or "Can we afford it?" Now a-days people say "Sure, credit or debit?" Not the way to go. I can attest. College! I see parents paying kids college tuition out of their own pocket. Must be nice.( I hope if you have a parent that does this for you, you go home every summer and treat them like a King and Queen. If you don't, SHAME on you for taking their hard earned money and shitting on them.) The student should be made to pay the debt for themselves. (This is going off topic) There is nothing I hate worse than people who sponge off mom and dad for everything. School, food, rent, phone etc. If you are a person who does that, let me tell you. The world is a unkind place full of people like you who don't care. If your child gets by with everything handed to them, how will they survive?!?!?! Most people who sponge don't make it in the real world. My parents never did that for me. Why should they. I might be living there with them still. Kids don't sponge, its not looked on in favor by many people in the real world.
Life has change a lot since I was younger. Mostly for the good, but with all the change that happens over the course of one's life, I guess everyone is bound to see the good mix with the bad. For the people of the depression, hard work, thrift and frugality have long gone by the waste side. For the people growing up in the 60's and 70's, respect has dwindled to nothing. For the people growing up in my generation, need is gone and replaced by want, doing has faded to try, and simplicity is being edged out by technology. What a world we live in. To think we can talk to anyone any place in the world in a matter of minutes by phone or face to face chat. To have millions of years of history at your finger tips and to think, we are not done creating. If it were up to me, I think I would have life be a little simpler, a little slower and little more then, rather than now. But I guess that's how I see things. Life today... well its a hell of a lot different.
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