OK, this one might be just a little bit political.
As I get older, I am starting to take more notice of the world around me. I have spent a lot of time lately looking at society, where we have been and where it seems that we are going. I am a part of a generation of slackers who seem to be defined by nothing more than video games, the iPod and the rise and eventual demise of MTV (we all know it's not worth watching anymore).
What are the big hurdles that we are supposed to overcome? We have our "war" and we have our domestic issues in illegal immigration, Katrina and other issues. The problems that we have don't even begin to touch those that our parents and grandparents have seen.
How does this little "war" match up with the way the country pulled together during World War II? How does the meager anti-war effort today match up with the protests during Vietnam? We have nothing to unify and define our generation. Our "hurdles" are nothing more than speed bumps. Why is it that I know all the sordid details of
Anna Nichole Smith's weight loss and, most recently,
Sara Evans' divorce? Why is this stuff news and why does it matter? Does society benefit from this knowledge?
We watch as our jobs get outsourced and our economy and education fall behind the rest of the world. We are losing the foothold that the blood, sweat and tears of thousands of patriots etched for us over the last 230 years. Patriots who did not think that they were owed anything more than they worked for. They knew that they were a part of something bigger than them. We are no longer the beacon of freedom and justice that we once were. The world now sees us as big, fat and happy. We are willing to rest on our laurels and wait for what is owed to us as Americans.
What happened to wanting to make things better? What happened to the American dream? I wonder when the idea of hard work became cliché.
We have no sense of accountability. Every problem is the other guy's fault. Why is it so hard to take responsibility for your actions? Why can't people own up to their mistakes? Hey, moron! You spilled hot coffee in your lap; it's not McDonald's' fault! Coffee is hot; that's the way it works. How in the hell can you sue a company for your own stupid mistakes and WIN!?!?! I am both amazed and appalled by this trend of people blaming others and benefiting financially for their own mistakes. What is wrong with America today? If someone spills coffee in their lap, we need to point at them and laugh, not give them a pile of money and a nice apology!
I am, at the very least, disappointed by our society. At what point did cowardice and deceit take over the way we live our lives? I have a lot of old-fashioned values. I expect people to keep their word. I think that if someone says something, they should do it. I hope that when I look someone in their eye and shake their hand, they trust that I will follow through with what I say. If I spill a cup of coffee on my crotch, I will take responsibility for doing so (after screaming hysterically for a few minutes, naturally). The McDonald's Corporation did not give me a boobytrapped cup, they did not send one of their employees to climb into my car and assault me with my nice hot beverage. Why should they have to pay me for being an idiot?
I see the problem getting much worse before it ever gets better. The way kids are being raised today just baffles me. When I was a kid we rode in the back of pick-up trucks, rode our bikes without helmets, jumped on trampolines without super safety netting on them, played with BB guns and we lived to see adulthood. If I messed up, I knew that I was going to get a spanking, and I turned out just fine.
We played games like football, baseball and dodgeball in school, games that required both winners and losers. (Oh the humanity of it all!) We had a field day where some kids didn't get ribbons. Now you have to worry about the feeling of the slower, weaker and fatter kids. We need to try and coddle them and give them a sense of accomplishment. WHY? They didn't do anything! Maybe if you tell them they lost this time, but with some hard work, next time they will do better -- they might try a little harder and not be slow, weak and fat! We celebrate mediocrity by making each kid feel like a winner when they are not. Not everyone can come in first place and we need our kids to know that to be the best they need to try harder.
I heard on the news this morning that they are doing a study about what is causing childhood obesity. Are you kidding me? How much are we paying the people to do this study and where do I sign up? I want to get paid to tell the world that we are allowing our kids to be just plain lazy. Bring back dodgeball to schools and the kid might think twice about eating that double cheeseburger if they get hit in the face by a ball a few times. Yeah, it was no fun losing in school, but it teaches you a lesson. We need kids to feel peer pressure and have some competition. Nobody wants to come in last --what happens when we are all equal? We stop trying. This trend is even turning up in our classrooms where we have to lower our academic standards so kids can pass the damn test! Does anyone else see a problem with this?
We all need to stop pointing the finger at each other. I don't care if you live in the red states or the blue states. We're all in this together. We all need to cowboy up and quit our whining. We all need to look at ourselves, our families and our kids.That's where the problem lies, not with the political affiliation of your neighbor.
"Life sucks, get a $%#@ing helmet."
--Dennis Leary