Man, it seems like the more I look around, participate in daily activities and soak in this experience we call life, the more “assholes” I encounter. By no means am I a perfect human being, but it never used to seem so bad in days past. Then it struck me, the numbers have increased, the math has worked because now assholes are raising … you got it, more assholes. Think about it. If one asshole (let’s say mom was cool) helps raise two asshole children they have become a triple threat. Those two assholes will raise even more assholes and grandpa is enforcing the behavior. It’s just like that demonstration of a nuclear reaction that is done with the mouse traps and the ping-pong balls.
Now we are in an age of more assholes than reasonable people. I mean, who pulls a car into an intersection, during a yellow light, that you can not get through due to heavy traffic, only to be the person who is now blocking the traffic from the “green” side of traffic, now trying to move. And the only other reason that that asshole drove into the intersection is because there was another asshole honking, from behind him, to do it. Don’t even get me started on why people are flummoxed on what to do at a stop sign or red light. Let me give you a hint … STOP!!!! It’s firkin’ red, bright and in the case of the stop sign, a shape you learned in kindergarten.
All this is learned behavior, learned from other assholes. At around age four, our children start to absorb what we parents are doing, saying, emoting and everything else that we do in our daily lives that they may and do observe. Every time we flip someone off (for good or bad reasons). We scream at someone for slightly inconveniencing us. We disparage someone just because they are different from us. Basically, the intolerance we display of everything that “inconveniences” us. Life is inconvenient, get over it. The sooner they learn that it does not bother us and we handle it in a positive manner, the sooner they are on the path of not becoming an asshole.
We have become selfish, boorish and materialistic. Our children have become unhealthy extensions of ourselves. We need to guide them to the positive side of civil society, even though a lot of us have not. Have them say “Thank You” EVERY time the waiter brings something to the table, even though that is their job. Teach your kids to open doors for others and when doors are opened for them to say “Thank You”. “Excuse me” is a lost courtesy that needs to be revived. Teach your kids that all people have value.
And it’s not completely our faults. The media glorifies assholes. Popular shows like MTV’s “My Sweet 16”, “Jersey Shore”, WEtv’s “Bridezillas”, Bravo’s “The Real Housewives of [put major city here]”, Oxygen's “Girls Behaving Badly”, “Bad Girls Club” and let us not leave out FOX TV's “Cops”. Really, who signs a production release form in possibly the worst situation a person can be in. And the list goes on. These shows are all popular because their viewership is tremendous. Just not watching these shows has got to help bring the asshole count down.
Now don’t get me wrong, I am not talking about making your kids subservient to the world. This comes under the heading of “do unto others as you would have them do unto you”. Honking your horn at someone for actually doing something wrong may not help you, personally. It does inform the wrong doer that they erred and that is better for the larger community. It just does not need to be followed up with the middle finger, a verbal exchange and a car chase.
The statement that your kids are a reflection of you is overwhelmingly true. If your kids are assholes … so are you. Or, maybe, I’m just getting old and just need to be yelling at kids to “Get Off My Lawn”!
Note: I know the word “asshole(s)” is used 17 times in this post. As in life, there are a lot of them out there.
No comments:
Post a Comment