God Damned Young People Need to Toughen the Hell Up
The problem with young people today is that they’re too damned soft.
In my day, young people were tough, damn it. We were gristly, sinewy and hard as nails. My generation was forged in a furnace of fiery parents, sweltering outhouses, creamed chip beef and the type of childhood diseases that either killed you or put some damned hair on your chest.
We had to be hard – conditions demanded it. There was no room for mollycoddling and teenaged slackassery. We couldn’t lie around in our underpants all day levelling up in Donkey Kong and text messaging our idiot friends. We were too busy rendering sheep fat, toting ice blocks and extracting our own teeth for that kind of foolishness. Our “down time” was getting dressed up in flour sack suits and attending the funerals of siblings who had died of dust pneumonia.
But these young people today? They’re marshmallows. And the similarity extends beyond their squishy plumpness and incredible lack of taste. Most have never done a lick of honest work and wouldn’t recognized a calloused palm if you clapped them across the ear with one.
They don’t understand what it means to sacrifice or to go without. For them, sacrifice is eating an unfrosted pop tart, fornicating with an unflavored condom or settling for less than an unlimited phone plan. Take away their cushy duvets, parental fawning and Junior Shopper credit cards and they wouldn’t last 5 damned minutes in the cold hard world.
And they’re emotionally soft too. Call a young person a worthless ninnyhammer and he’ll whinge, cry and fold up like a house of cards just to prove you right. Criticism’s considered some form of abuse instead of what it’s supposed to be – a practical assessment of your obvious limitations and some damned motivation to prove me wrong.
Face facts, this country is deep in the toilet and one flush away from becoming “Runningdoghai” the 23rd Province of the People’s Republic of China. If we ever want to return our nation to its former glory we need to stop raising a generation of spongy cry-babies and get back to work on hardening our resolve, our bodies and our minds.
They’re too damned soft. That’s the problem with young people today.
The Problem with Young People Today Is... 
And they’ll try and sue.
Many thanks Gail,
Naturally. I believe it’s become the norm for people to expect outrageous financial settlements if they feel they’ve been slighted, insulted or in any way aggrieved.
I suspect my paperboy is contemplating legal action as well speak – apparently my note asking that he refrain from tossing the damned Sunday paper into my rose bushes or onto my roof was thoughtless, inconsiderate and damaging to his sense of self.
All the best, Gail, and thanks for stopping in.
Don
Mr Mills,
These days, even a resounding, apocalyptic, failure at your job is no excuse for criticizing somebody. http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-11-28/secret-fed-loans-undisclosed-to-congress-gave-banks-13-billion-in-income.html
No, you must not criticize them. You must hold them to your neck and let them drink what’s left of your blood.
Hahaha, If I threatened to sue my mom she’d hand me 2 phone numbers: A laywer’s and The EMT’s
agreed!
Thank you JLW,
Short and to the damned point. Appreciate it.
All the best,
Don
Too funny…enjoyed your post so much!
Many thanks Sara June,
I appreciate your stopping in.
Best regards,
Don
Forget Occupy Wall Street. Young people need to occupy a third-world foreign boarding school for awhile. No wi-fi, no hookah, no runing water or beds. That’ll teach them a lesson and toughen them up.
Many thanks bmj2k,
I agree with the sentiment but am concerned about the additional outsourcing. Surely to God we have home-grown know how to build our own third-world style, hookahless, waterless and bedless boarding schools. We could just empty one of the smaller states and send them all there – Rhode Island might be a decent choice.
All the best, bmj2k. Always a pleasure to hear from you.
Don
Or Alaska. Put them out on the tundra somewhere, if they try to escape let polar bears and grizzlies act as natural truant officers, no renumeration required.
Yep. Better they should “occupy” an employment office, a good clothing store, a bath tub and a barber shop!
tai dui le!
Thank you cro,
I have no idea what that might mean but I like the cut of your jib.
All the best,
Don
I couldn’t have put it better myself! I agree 100% AND THESE YOUNG PEOPLE ARE THE ONES THAT WILL BE IN CHARGE OF THE COUNTRY IN YEARS TO COME
What a terrible thought
Thank you misswhiplash,
It should be an interesting future, there’s no doubt about that. The only consolation is that I’ll likely have checked out long before we’re appointing a president with a neck tattoo who expects his mother to pack him and lunch and drive him to the White House each morning.
All the best,
Don
I hope I check out before that day too!
And, how about learning how to cook and change diapers…real diapers that must be washed, folded and pinned on the baby?
Thank you eileen,
I fully agree. If young people had to learn how to cook they’d be far healthier.
And if they had to learn how to wash, fold and re-use cloth diapers they might be less likely to have damned sprogs in the first place.
Wins in both categories, I’d say.
Best regards,
Don
I like your thoughts on cloth diapers. I totally agree. That would help with the overpopulation problem. As a former high school girl, I heard lots of conversations about how cute babies are, and how they would love to have one of their own. I often thought if they were required to care for a baby for a day or two and clean up the poo and barf, they might back off a bit on their eagerness to procreate.
You nailed it all directly on the head, once again. Christmas gifts for the ungrateful ninnyhammers this year ought to be along the lines of practical, character-building items such as a cardboard box, steel wool pads, a load of bricks, some used cheap shoes and a year’s supply of mush. Take away all their electronics, shove ’em outdoors and make them be creative and appreciative. Damn it.
Thank you Southern Sea Muse,
An excellent idea. I like the idea of creating a list of “practical, character-building” Christmas gifts for young people. I could see adding a length of twine, a handful of twigs, a dozen wooden blocks and a number 2 pencil to the list.
Many thanks for the comment and all the best,
Don
I say shoot the lot o` them!
Thank you raburcke,
I’m more of the “kick them in ass” school myself but I appreciate the sentiment.
Best regards,
Don
And what about going to school? They need to wait at the end of the driveway in Mommy’s warm car for the school bus. The bus that stops at EVERY SINGLE driveway.
Thank you notquiteold,
It’s disturbing – there’s no doubt about that.
I’ve long suggested that young people would be better served if they were to push the bus to school and back (provided, of course, that an uphill both way route can be found) instead of riding in it. It would give them a little exercise and help build some character.
All the best and thanks for stopping in.
Don
Indeed it’s disturbing why in my day – before your time I’m afraid young Donald – we had to walk miles to get to school – through the bush at that. Today’s young whippersnappers are naught but bags of flabby fat barely able to make the walk down to mommy’s car at the end of the driveway (and thank you notquiteold for pointing that out) without having to pause and suck on their inhalers. I say send the lot of them up to northern BC or Ontario, give them some hooks, fishing line, a days worth of real food and tell them to make their way home again
hey I resent that, Curmudgeon in Training! …we have enough #x%%& in Ontario without you wanting to add more. However if you insist, northern BC would certainly be the ideal place.
signed
NIMBY
Oh I wouldn’t worry too much about that Karin – I’m talking deep wilderness here – few will make it out alive and those that don’t will feed the bears and cougars, who I’m sure could use the protein. The ones that do make it out will be all the better off for the experience.
Don needs to be forgiven for being so soft on the kids – he’s from a younger generation than me – we were tougher back then. Keep up the good work Don – you’ll get there yet!
I cool with become Cougar food, but Bears kind of scare me.
Hey Mr. Mills I like your new post. I couldn’t agree more! ~ Valerie
Thank you Valerie,
I appreciate your taking the time to visit.
Best,
Don
I must give them one thing though, they finally invented the wireless wireless.
Thank you again raburcke,
I’m not sure I’d even give them credit for that but I will admit they’ve embraced the technology completely. And it’s certainly helped them in their pursuit to become aimlessly aimless.
All the best,
Don
LOL This one is soooo spot on Don. Aimlessly aimless… have to remember that comment. Describes most of the kids in the town where I live.
Ya know what they are, Don. They are candyassed pussywillows! I say send ’em to a gulag or Runningdoghai and leave their spoiled little asses their until they realize that nobody was or is promised a bed of damn roses without thorns!
On another note: I asked Santa to bring me a framed picture of you and one of your used cardigan sweaters. So, don’t panic, get out your gun, and look for crack-smokin’ thieves if these things go missing.
As always, yours
TPB
Thank you trailerparkbarbie,
You’re welcome to a cardigan – I have a 1957 hand-knit, sleeved, 5 button sweater in raw umber that’s rather fetching but no longer fits. It may smell a little like moth bolls and macadamia nuts (apparently I didn’t check the pockets before storing it in the basement) but you’re welcome to it.
I’d advise against the picture, however, unless you’re hoping to use it to scare off crows.
Always a pleasure, TPB.
Warm regards,
Don
Fabulous observation!!!!!!!! I loved it and I’m sending it out for the holidays!!
Keep it coming!
Thank you daffers2830,
thanks for the kind words. I appreciate your taking the time to visit.
All the best,
Don
I blame the “singlemom” phenomenon. Who has time to discipline and toughen up your child when your so busy applying for government aid and shopping for outfits to wear to go dancing at the clubs every night?
Sorry, meant you’re, not your.
Thank you Victoria,
Personally, from where I’m sitting I don’t see a connection between soft children and single parenting, income level or the source of that income itself. Seems to me, rather, that the “softification” of America crosses every socio-economic category we’ve got.
From what I see, most middle class 2-parent families are too damned busy buying their children’s affection, living beyond their means and using the internet as a low-cost nanny to be making much effort in instilling decent values. If I had a nickel for every well-heeled young dimwit who had never swung a hammer, washed a dish or cleaned his own room, I’d be a millionaire.
To me, this is an equal opportunity outage that affects the rich, the poor and everyone in between.
All the best and many thanks for your comment. Very nice to hear from you.
Don
Don,
Thanks for your response on this particular comment. You handled it so much nicer than I wanted to.
Very truly yours,
Mutant
Maybe we could call it something else – it ruffles my feathers when I see stuff like that – I was a single mom and I did what I had to do to take care of myself and my kid – got a job – and finished college so I could get a better job. Not all single moms rely on government aid and go out dancing every night.
I completely agree with you teri. I have never partied, nor am I irresponsible. My 4 year-old probably knows how to do more chores than an average ten year-old. You just have to make the time to raise them right. My son knows that he’s the only help that I have around the house after a long day and he’s a good boy. I resent that comment.
That is the absolute truth. I’ll have to send this to all my nieces and nephews. Thanks!
Thank you Tmso,
I appreciate your spreading the word. Many thanks.
Don
Can’t stop laughing, Don! You should give lectures in schools. More importantly, I hope all is well!
Thank you very much Wendy.
I don’t think I could tolerate schools any more than young people could tolerate me. Best if I just comment from the sidelines, I think.
All is very well, thank you. I hope all is well with you too.
Best regards,
Don
Thank you for this. I may have to borrow your paragraph, “And they’re emotionally soft too. Call a young person a worthless ninnyhammer and he’ll whine, cry and fold up like a house of cards just to prove you right. Criticism’s considered some form of abuse instead of what it’s supposed to be – a practical assessment of your obvious limitations and some damned motivation to prove me wrong.” I think this is the most apt description I’ve read to date. thanks. 🙂
Thank you happygirl,
Please feel free to borrow away. Always a pleasure to hear from you.
Warm regards,
Don
Add to your sentiment another frightening layer——–There are 15 year-olds in my neighborhood who have more than one child themselves!…And they still don’t have the sense to walk on the sidewalk rather than in the street; or make sure their babies have on a jacket. Yet they still fawn over each other’s nails; text on their phones and flirt with the boys. They have no jobs, nor have they the desire to obtain one…..or even the inkling that it might be good for their future security and employability and the welfare of their children if they at least think about obtaining one.
Victoria is absolutely right. In this day of Obama phones, food stamps, and assistance multiplied by offspring. our government is encouraging softness and financing it by way of taxing with the dwindling numbers of us who actually are employed. Maybe it is WE who are too soft to vote out the nanny legislatures and vote in those who think nationalism, faith, hard work and family are NOT ‘dirty words’.
(Just sayin’…)
Many thanks sed007,
I appreciate the comment, sed007, but don’t believe I entirely agree. I maintain that this has nothing to do with government, political parties or whether/not people are employed.
This whole damned generation (rich, poor, left, right) has been raised to be soft. Every damned house has central vacuum, dishwashers, washers and dryers, garbage disposals, indoor plumbing and refrigeration. People blow their leaves instead of raking them for Christ’s sake. I haven’t seen a snow shovel on my street since 1987. There’s no chore that hasn’t been automated, eliminated or deemed inappropriate for delicate damned young people.
If you ask me it’s about our culture not our station in life. Our society encourages softness, promotes softness and sells it to us on a damned daily basis. And we’re gobbling it up faster than a fat kid on a pack of skittles.
Many thanks for the comment. I appreciate hearing from you.
Best regards,
Don
Sir, I can assure you that even the snow shovels themselves have gone soft! Nearly all of them are made of weak-ass plastic designed to break. Last year, I went through 2 of them and the 3rd is barely hanging on.
That’s the problem with young people. They resemble the consumer goods sold to them; flimsy and designed to break.
Well put, sir. This does have very little to do with political spectrum or class. It is about unrealistic expectations a society (especially those advertisers) have created for its citizens to live up to.
Everybody must be happy & comfortable 24/7 and have all the latest everything, even if they have to gobble pills by the bottle and go bankrupt trying to achieve it. Only the richest can get away with it, but even many of them crash & burn trying to live the fantasy.
The real problem is they no long have to walk ten miles to school in the snow, up hill (both ways) and barefoot.
Many thanks PiedType,
I’m inclined to agree. The snow and bare feet were a minor annoyance – it was figuring out the uphill both ways part that really built character.
All the best,
Don
I AbSOLUTELY LOVE how you describe your youngster years. The childhood disease comment cracked me up. How true!
Many thanks Heidi,
Dust pneumonia, scarlett fever and rickets. They weren’t called the good old days for nothing.
Warm (but not feverish) regards,
Don
Hello Again Sir,
I don’t think anybody can really argue your point on this topic. There is a high amount of “slackassery” (my new favorite word) nowadays. Great post. I can tell you have a gift for comical writing, and you craft your words very well. I applaud your skills!
Fondly,
Betty Marshall
Many thanks Betty,
Slackassery is, indeed, becoming an epidemic. I’m told that if it’s left untreated it almost certainly leads to fatassery and chronic dumbassery. Not a pretty picture.
I appreciate the kind words, Betty. Very nice of you to stop by and visit.
Best regards,
Don
SO TRUE, SO TRUE
We need to let them fail, pick themselves up and learn to work for a living, not expect the handouts from parents and the Govt.
Military should be mandatory for all, they learn something called discipline or they get in serious trouble.
Country needs to get back to real values again.
Stan
Many thanks Stan,
I agree they need some discipline and like the idea of military service but confess to being more than a little worried about putting guns in their hands. I’ve made my share of young people enemies over the years.
Best regards,
Don
“Military should be mandatory for all, they learn something called discipline or they get in serious trouble.”
NO NO NO. The last thing our soldiers need is a bunch of flying doucheweasels assigned to watch their backs who don’t want to be there! The military is not finishing school for thugs. It’s a professional organization of men and women devoted to defending our country, regardless of how they get used by the powers that be. That doesn’t even get into the dangers of having a large and needing-to-be-justified army always at hand. Bad plan all around.
You want to see the kind of nightmarish stuff that came out of Vietnam and the kinds of mental problems that went with conscription, you start shoving people into the military who don’t belong there. No, the place for kids to learn discipline and honor is at home. If the parents aren’t up to it, well, that’s natural selection in action. It’s not the government’s place to raise everybody’s kids for them.
Nah, if we’re going to go that route, let’s just mandate floursack underwear and schools being built in cold places near lots of hills. 🙂 That’ll shape ’em right up.
Cheers!
Eridani
Brilliant! My generation is a bunch of pussy, marshmellow, soda drinking, fat asses. Last time i did real work was when i was 16 and worked on a tree farm hauling trees. Since then i have sat on my lazy ass facebooking and watching netflix.
Many thanks Andrew,
Working on a tree farm at 16? Jesus, lad, my sister had graduated from hauling trees by the time she was 12 – and she had dust pneumonia, bark allergies and webbed toes. You need to hang up the facebook and get your lazy ass back out there, son. Try coal mining or sheep bollocking – that’ll put some damned lead in your pencil.
You can do it, lad. I have faith in you.
Best of luck, Andrew, and thanks very much for visiting.
Don
Oh for goodness sakes I can’t breathe I’m laughing so hard. You had me at “slackassery” and the rest of your post kept me in stitches, but this response to this comment pushed me over the edge!! My husband keeps looking at me like I’m nuts for laughing at my computer, but to be fair he looks at me like that a lot of the time. I wish I had half your wit.
Dear Don,
you are the best! My 14 year old enjoys your posts, too. Luckily for him, his stepfather is old school, so there is no “you are special” bull c*ap around this house. We are still working on address forms – Sir and Ma’am is preferable, but have to settle for “Mother” and “Father” for now. We do make him sleep in the coldest room in the house and sometimes put stale bread and water in his lunch instead of expected salami/cheese/baguette sandwich.
If you have suggestions on how to toughen him up even more, please let me know!
P.S. Your cardigan looks amazing.
Take good care.
Thank you very much fornormalstepfathers,
Sounds like you’re doing a fine job with that lad of yours – even if you are spoiling him a little with all the damned stale bread. I was lucky to see the occasional stale bread crust. And more often than not is was stale bread crumbs with a side of wood chips and a small cup of malt vinegar.
As for toughening that boy up further, you might start by removing the down from his jacket. Struggling through winters is was made this country great. Winter is meant to be about suffering, scurvy, bitter cold and the loss of toes – not about hot chocolate, thermo-insulated underpants and snowboarding.
Warm regards,
Don
p.s Thanks for the compliment. I trust you aren’t just trying to soften me up.
WOW ! Don, you are my new hero!
Many thanks Southern Grandma,
I appreciate the kind words and the visit. Hope to hear from you again.
Best,
Don
Hey I remember chipped beef! Damn! I must not be young anymore, but I’m tough as nails! Please pass the marshmallows….
Thank you susielindau,
Remember it? It’s not an easy food to forget. God knows I’ve tried.
Always a pleasure to hear from you.
All the best,
Don
Guess what I took a fall this weekend on ice. My rear end is black and blue, my ribs are bruised, and my neck is in pain. But did I run in screaming to the store that I was going to sue them? No! I got up, whipped myself off, checked to make sure nothing was broken or bleeding and continued on with my day with a limp. And guess what I did this week take care of my very active 3 year old. Its called life.
A comment I use as a child, teen, young adult, and even now as an adult. When people tell me so and so or their parents thinks the worse of them. That they will never measure up to anything. I say, “Prove them wrong!” Prove to them and yourself that you can do all the things that people think you can’t. Get off your rear end and prove to people and youself you can make something of yourself. Whinning isn’t going to get you anywhere, but crying like a baby.
Yep life sucks, so what, put an helmet on and get on with your life.
My husband works with some fresh grads from college and they whine and complain and so forth. As he tells them life sucks get over it and continue on with your life prison sentence of work. This is your life, no one is going to bend over and kiss your rear end, no one is going to pat your hands and tell you its okay. You do your job or you get fired, thats the facts, don’t like it, theres the door. Oh and by the way no else is going to put up with your childish behavior either. And he walks away and lets them figure out the problem.
Yep life sucks, so what, put an helmet on and get on with your life.
Helmets are for pussies.
Many thanks Spice,
I think your husband should look into a career as one of those motivational speaker types. It might be a refreshing change for people to hear that if they actually want their lot to improve they might need to work for it rather than by simply visualizing themselves as Vice-President of Quality Assurance in the Bra and Panty Division of Victoria Secret and then waiting for it to just drop into their lap.
I appreciate the comment and hope the bruises and scrapes are healing nicely.
All the best,
Don
Ahh, yes, I remember my father discussing walking to school five miles each way … uphill – in both directions …. in bare feet in three feet of snow so that he had to wrap them in barbed wire for traction. :^) That was in 1910 in Southern Illinois. It went downhill from there, having to limp along once part of his foot had been crushed by the draft horse, so he was forced to flap his arms real hard to achieve the first human air flight since Icarus. Yes, indeedy. I remember hearing all about how lucky I was to ride a school bus. And, since I liked the bus and the bus driver, I had to admit, I did feel pretty lucky.
Ahh, those were the days. Mucking out the outhouse, the horse stalls and the chicken coops. Actually, we were still doing that in parts of Idaho in the 1950’s and 60’s. Personally, I was all for abandoning the outhouse site and just moving it a few yards. Then again, I was a sucker for air conditioning at night when it was 100 degrees outside.
Many thanks Another Boomer Blog,
A fine comment, I enjoyed that. In my town it was only the rich kids that had the barbed wire snow feet. The rest of us just had to sand the soles of our feet with a piece of steel wool or an old wood rasp.
All the best and thanks again for taking the time to visit.
Don
Thanks Don,
When you have to schedule a c-section (not due to an emergency) to have your babies you know how soft the next generation has degenerated.
Thank you Sunshine,
Good lord, what a notion. It sounds more like a lunch reservation than giving birth.
Best regards,
Don
Well Don, once again you’ve hit the nail right on the head. Thank GOD we raised our children with the freezing outhouse (sweltering AND extra stinky in the summer months) and NEVER fed them Pop-Tarts, frosted or otherwise. We hand-pumped our water, even when our backyard was on fire. True story!
And we never never EVER said this to them:
“That’s not OK kids!”
Many thanks David,
Sounds like you did an excellent job.
There is nothing like a hand-pump to really make you appreciate the value of water. Somehow, unscrewing a lid and drinking it out of some plastic bottle just doesn’t have the same impact or make quite the same impression,
Sorry to hear about the fire. Hopefully, you were able to get enough buckets to the right place before too much damage was done.
All the best,
Don
Thanks Don, it was a long time ago. Unfortunately we needed the local FD to come help. Fortunately the house didn’t catch fire. It was a lesson learned in detail. One detail: drench a towel in the bucket of water and beat the burning grass with that instead of dumping the bucket almost uselessly on a small spot.
Our kids turned out great!
Ah Don, if the world is going to hell in a handbasket, about the only thing we can blame young people for is turning that handbasket into a multi-tasking handheld device that they can communicate with while they cross the street into the path of our oncoming cars. But we are all screwed up. Every single one of us.
Many thanks lifeintheboomerlane,
Personally, I like to feel that we can blame them for a good deal more than just that. Those twilight movies weren’t my damned idea. And that’s just for a start.
Warm regards,
Don
too funny! this reminds me of a blog I found! http://spotthestereotype.wordpress.com
Thanks Anon.
Regards,
Don
I’m part of the generation that you slack off but I completely agree with you. Just the other day, I’ve been talking with my dad about our how useless our generation is but also keeping in mind that times have changed. Back in the old days, hard manual labour was needed, especially with the environmental factors back in the day but today, computers govern the society. People who stay at home, making programmes are the kings today.
I think it’s about character. I do think the characteristics of today are well. shit. Guys at my college, go behind girls to bitch about them, even group up to go to the toilet. Manly, huh? Girls that I know have no clue in cooking, cleaning, and just taking care of themselves and expect someone to come along and take care of them or if they find someone, everything will be better. I’m not saying that’s for all the girls and boys but in general society, that’s the majority. At least the society that I’m in. There’s just no sense of independency, individuality and inner strength.
Just sharing in opinion and again, love this post.
Many thanks Anonymous,
I appreciate the comment and agree – this has a great deal to do with character.
All the best,
Don
p.s. this notion of men “grouping up” to go to the damned toilet is disturbing as hell.
Well Don, I guess we only have ourselves to blame. We reap what we sew. Our children are a direct result of their parents and so on and so on…..
Thank you Anonymous,
I don’t agree. Young parents these days may be daft as hell too but I maintain that everyone has to take responsibility for their own damned actions and the trajectory of their life. Blaming parents or (worse) seniors is just taking the easy way out.
All the best,
Don
You’re so funny and so spot on, it’s scary! Enjoyed the read. Thanks!
Many thanks Karen,
Always a pleasure to hear from you.
Warm regards,
Don
I once had to eat an unfrosted pop tart. It was the worst day of my life. And it hurt to hold it in my soft, smooth hands.
Thank you Russ,
Frankly, that’s damned disgraceful. You should have been eating unfrosted bark warmed over an open fire. It builds up scar tissue on the hands, in the mouth and depending on whether you try deciduous or coniferous, can be tasty as hell too.
Toughen up, son. Do some jumping jacks, get a medicine ball and start taking ice-water baths. In the long run, you’ll be grateful you did.
All the best,
Don
Right and no cheating – willow bark for the aspirin is out – man up there Russ
Greetings Mr Mills,
Though I dont really appreciate the strong love-less language you use, I have enjoyed reading your thoughts.Your posts are thought provoking, a true reflection of the majority of youngsters, and ofcourse hilarious.
That said, I believe that we are to blame for what youngsters are today. Most parents spare the “rod” when they should really be using it to discipline their children; some don’t even know how to use the “rod” effectively. Yes, use the rod effectively without being driven by anger. Also, They are either too lazy, pre-occupied or in a different world of their own when it comes to straightening their children during those precious formative years…and then they crib when they grow up to be like youngsters that you’ve portrayed.
Times have changed, its very very different from the time you were born and different from the time I was born. Today, most children are born into opulence; however we were not. We were born at a time when farms needed physical reaping, clothes needed manual washing and food on the table needed backbreaking toil. I don’t even know if these children today can connect with those times. Do you think you and I would have been any better, if we were born in techno-savvy times such as this to spine-less parents that sorround us by the dozens today?
Children seldom change by words, but by example. For a future generations that can stand tall, we need to have fathers and mothers of character and integrity. Unfortunately, the protagonists of your articles are the product of broken marriages, violent fathers, adulterous parents and, abusive and loveless families.
When we blame them we blame ourselves.
Warm Regards,
Vinod Joy
Many thanks Vinod,
I appreciate the well-stated and carefully considered comment. With the exception of your last sentence, I believe I’m in near full agreement.
All the best and many thanks for visiting. I enjoyed hearing from you.
Don
Mr. Mills,
If you haven’t published a parenting guide, you need to. You owe it to the world to ensure that the legacy of your generation has the chance to live on. In the meantime, I’m going to drive my kids out to a farm so they can bale hay and work a band saw.
Sincerely,
underwhelmer
Brilliant idea!
Thank you underwhelmer,
A parenting guide is a very interesting idea. I’ll have to give that some serious consideration.
A shame my old dad wasn’t around to contribute. He had some rather unusual but very practical views on parenting. Perhaps I could enlist the support of some of my cronies from the seniors center. In the interim, good luck with the kids. My advice, add “operate a thresher” and take away the “drive them.”
Thanks for the suggestion and for stopping in to visit.
Don
Mr. Mills,
I don’t think this applies to just young people in your county (I’m sorry, is this supposed to be country?). As you’ve aptly pointed out – Criticism’s considered some form of abuse instead of what it’s supposed to be – a practical assessment of your obvious limitations and some damned motivation to prove me wrong. The unfortunate effect of this is that far too many younglings think what they think is always right resulting to stagnation and never taking responsibility for one’s actions.
Thank you for sharing your thoughts on this matter.
Cheers,
Nel
Thank you Nel,
It was meant to be country – my thanks for pointing that out.
I agree that “younglings think what they think is always” but I’m not sure it leads to stagnation. If anything, it seems to encourage them to come up with all manner of new, harebrained nonsense.
Not to be indelicate but I saw a very troubling news article about vodka tampons on something called butt chugging. I’m not sure if it’s a myth, nightmare or regular business but it’s damned nauseating and the result of minds I’d refer to as depraved, reckless and degenerate but not entirely stagnant.
Regardless, call it what it you will, I agree they’re not inclined to take responsibilities for their actions.
Thanks for visiting.
All the best,
Don
i think it all started when they started making condoms “ribbed for your pleasure.” and don’t even get me started on the selfish bastards who insist on wearing them inside out. 😡
Thank you Nonnie,
Ribbed? Pleasure? I think the problem started when people stopped making condoms out of sheep bladders and started telling people there was supposed to be pleasure involved.
Always a treat to have you visit Nonnie. You’re one in a million.
Don
Dear Mr Mills,
I am a new comer from Italy and although I appreciated your post which made me laugh , I truly cannot agree with it. At least I cannot agree with it since the reality in my own world is slightly different.
There was a flood a few weeks ago in my city,Genoa, and in nearby sites. Alas 6 people died and hundreds of shops and houses hwere destroyed.
The first people,apart from Army and Firemen, who went out in their wellies and armed with shovels were the teens.
They were named the Mud Angels and they did a wonderful job.
Not all the kids are so soft and pampered.
Best regards, Rosanna
Many thanks rosanna,
I appreciate your sharing that story. Good luck in the rebuilding.
Best,
Don
Donald, Come to India or any other still struggling for development , you will the youth of your days – Hard, determinted and working their arse to achieve a better standard of living for themselves & their families
Many thanks Anjana,
I’m sure you’re correct. We’ve gotten too damned complacent over here and, as result, too damned soft. A little bit of struggle and hardship is good for people.
All the best,
Don
Hate to tell you this…but it’s exactly the same in the good old UK!
Thank you pastmastery,
I suspected as much. Anywhere there are is abundance of Ipods, hoodies, cannibas, tattoo shops and mega-malls your bound to find this problem.
Warm regards,
Don
Dear Don,
This is why our terrible school systems are now giving out “Participation” ribbons — so that no pansy-dripping little ninnyhammer gets his/her pwecious goddamn feelings hurt. It really frosts my cookies just to think about. You didn’t place or win anything at Field Day? It’s probably because you SUCK. And you should work on that! You should NOT be given a ribbon to reward your wild ineptitude. It just encourages the downfall of society.
Off to bang my head against a hard surface until blood shoots out my eyes.
Best,
Sorcia
Thank you Sorcia,
I’ve always been baffled by the 12th place ribbon and accompanying trophy. Seems to me like rewararding medicocrity (and I think I’m being rather generous considering it was a 10 man field) has become the norm.
I agree. We’d be better off printing off ribbons that
1) Winner
2) Runner Up
3) The person no one will remember
4) Not special enough for the top 3
5) damned mediocre
6) So damned mediocre you’re interchangeable with the person that came in 5th
7) Unfit for any recognition be it positive or negative
8) Embarrassing but at least you’re not…
9) That guy.
10) You suck
This is just a sample, mind you. I’m sure it could be further refined.
All the best,
Don
My 13 year old doesn’t have a cell phone because he hasn’t earned it, however, our tax dollars pay for the government to give them out to people who don’t work for a living. Maybe this craziness has helped develop the lazy culture we live in.
Thank you Matsmom,
Appreciate the comment and your dropping in. All the best to your lad.
Don
I heart you, Don. And I heart you just for using the words “mollycoddling” and “ninnyhammer”.
I uber-heart you for, once again, making nail hit hammer.
Damned kids.
Thank you awesomesauciness,
Very damned kind of you. My old mom used the term mollycoddling all the time. And my old dad was inclined toward the use of ninnyhammer. Guess they both just stayed with me.
Damned kids indeed!
Best regards. Always a pleasure to hear from you.
Don
Its all part of a big plan that a few know about. Its easier to get rich off of stupid people than free thinkers.Confuse the people keep them busy mess with the economy tell them what they need and you have everybody by the balls. It is purposely messed up kill off the young by teaching them useless skills and their you have it depopulation at its best! We are a useless species incapable of figuring out simple problems that are 2000 years old or have these problems been in place to keep the wealthy comfortable? We enslave each other so we can be comfortable. Somebody has to do the work right? Until we create artificial life that can do the labor for us we will continue to live in a society that lives off of a monetary system. Unfortunately the artificial life would have to sophisticated enough to be just like us and what if they needed, healthcare vacation time etc. we are in a catch 22 a never ending cycle of enslavement. We will never be completely free
Thank you jim55543,
That’s a hell of a plan, alright. Complicated yet cunning as hell. Do you think the Shriners might be involved? Or the Elks? Sounds like something they’d come up with.
All the best and thanks for visiting.
Don
You’ve got points there.
But I find the generation before too robotic and unquestioning. Mine as well make robots out of kids and they’ll obey every single command – unquestioningly!
Thank you Andrew,
I like the idea of super compliant young people robot slaves (I added the slave part) waiting on seniors hand and foot while keeping their damned voice modulators shut. In many ways, it sounds ideal.
My only concern, of course, is that in time their mechanical brains would overheat, they’d go “insane” and embark on a murderous rampage of old people and small pets. It’s a nightmare I’ve had for a number of years actually. For that reason alone, I no longer support the research.
All the best and thanks for visiting.
Don
I think the author of this article is being soft on the kids and I’m personally gonna pay a visit to old man river and break his hip. “Greatest Generation” my asset.
Many thanks Buckeye Dave.
That’s the damend spirit. Remember to go for the left – I just had the right one replaced.
All the best.
Don
I’ll be sharing your posts on a regular basis with my students, so they know what I’ll be expecting of them. By the way, how DO you keep your cardigan looking so fresh?
Many thanks Anonymous,
I appreciate your sharing the blog with your students. Be sure to keep those expectations high.
All the best,
Don
p.s. it’s a combination of delicate handwashing, careful use of napkings (while eating), spray starch and the fact that I don’t move around very much anyone.
I don’t know if it’s true that most young people wouldn’t recognize a calloused palm if you clapped them across the ear with one – why don’t you try it out on a representative sample of them just to be sure?
Thank you pegoleg,
Sorry for the delay in responding but I needed to make sure the representative sample group was large enough in order to be statistically valid. I thought 100 was a good start.
I’m still tallying the results but I believe I’ve proven my case.
All the best. Always a pleasure to have you pop in.
Don
Underwhelmer’s idea of a parenting guide is brilliant. In my opinion, it all went wrong with that namby pamby Doctor Spock nonsense. We need you to redress the balance.
Thank you Rosie Scribblah,
It’s something I’ll certainly have to look in to. The problem is, though, you really need a woman’s perspective (I think that’s one of the reasons old Benny didn’t get much traction).
In my experience, men’s parenting consists primarily of coming home late and telling everyone to be quiet because he had a hard day at work. Seems to me that it’s the women (at least traditionally) that have had to put wooden spoon to rear end and really work to get the job done.
I’ve spoken to Birdie Jenson down at the senior’s center, though, and she might be willing to collaborate. She’s raised a gaggle of kids and has the scars to prove it.
All the best,
Don
The problem is, it’s the fault of parents of young people are so lacking. I cringe when I see young mothers, on the bus, concentrating all their attention on talking on the ‘phone or texting, while the baby/toddler in the pram is throwing a tantrum. Also, they let the little ones run down the bus aisle while in motion without holding onto them. Once, I tried to catch a toddler before he fell but missed him by an inch. He cut his head open. I was mortified… Even though this child wasn’t actually responsibility. With that kind of parenting, I fear for these future adults. I fear that I see more and more parents around who don’t seem to take full responsibility for raising their children, so the latter grow unattended, like weeds. It’s not the kids’ fault. Nobody gives them a sense of focus and self-respect.
Thank you scribedoll,
I have to admit that I’m no fan of many young people parents either. Just the other day I was walking my wee dog through the park when I saw a large van parked on the side of small laneway. Across from it (and over a narrow stream) was a swing set. A young gal (somewhere between birth and 12 is as specific as I can get) was swinging back and forth.
When I approached the van, I saw a fat assed couple of young people sitting in the vehicle playing handheld video games. Their daughter was calling to them to “push” or “watch” but the mother just barked out at her to be quiet.
It was quite possibly the most disgusting display of parenting I have ever seen. My wee dog pissed on their rear passenger side tire and I couldn’t have been prouder. in fact, I was half tempted to do the same.
All the best and sorry for the long story but it’s been eating at me for a while now.
Don
They’re selfish and generally unwilling to extend themselves. When we were kids many walks were shoveled and leaves raked to help an elderly neighbor because it was a nice thing to do. Admittedly, good deeds were often rewarded with cookies or a piece of cake but even when there was no treat the work itself was rewarding. These kids are not at all enterprising and couldn’t think themselves out of a wet paper bag!
As always, excellent post Mr. Mills.
Many thanks elroyjones,
An excellent comment and very true as well. My old neighbor (it’s terrible but I’ve forgotten her name) baked the most wonderful cookies and was always happy to hand them out to kids who helped her around the house. She was also inclined to yell at us if we messed up the job.
All the best and thanks again for visting.
Don
AThe sports world proves your point. It will only be a matter of time before tackling is banned in football and fighting and checking taken out of hockey.
Many thanks Ahmnodt,
It’s very true. And yet they dress the “athletes” like they are going to be in the next damned Transformer’s movie. Ridiculous.
All the best,
Don
exactly Ahmnodt Heare – why I was watching the football game last night and I saw someone tackle another using his helmet and the one tackled got up and demanded a penalty because his widdle head got hit. I shouted Man Up but it went right over his head.In my day we played real football – no pads and at most, if you played well – a leather helmet.
Thank you Curmudgeon in Training,
I was just thinking the same thing and revisited a post I wrote a while back..
In my day athletes were real men. When they marched out onto the field of play they did so proudly and without fear. They didn’t hide themselves under a hundred pounds of military-grade protective armor – they capped their noggins with leather helmets, donned shoulder pads the thickness of kleenex and safeguarded their man-parts with hand-knit jockstraps.
Made for a far better game in my opinion.
Many thanks for visiting. Always good to hear from you.
Don
Dear Don,
another excellent post, telling it as it is.
Why can’t the young just… just… just… be more like us.
There is a very aposite saying down here in New Zealand (where at least the youth do play Rugby, without all that effete padding and helmets of American football)
The saying is “Harden Up”
Says it all for me.
Keep breathing and keep taking the medication(s) Don, your voice really needs to be heard forever (or as long as the health insurance holds out)
Yours Aye
TSB
I’d be interested in knowing how injuries in rugby compare to sports like football and hockey, where they are more armoured than knights going into battle.
I’ve always wondered if the “protection” is actually the direct & indirect causes of many of the injuries in these sports. They certainly don’t seem to be significantly curtailing injuries. How can completely unprotected rugby players manage to survive such a physical game?
Our professional Rugby players do wear a little padding under their shirts, but it’s pretty minimalist compared to the armour your American footballers wear.
You might have a point. If the players know that they’re going to feel every contact directly on their own bodies, I suspect that they’ll be a little more careful where the contact occurs and with what amount of pressure.
Rugby (footie as it is known down here in NZ) rules are slightly different, and there is a prohibition on tackling a polayer who does NOT have the ball, so their’s probably a lower amount of actualphysical contact.
Thank thanks TSB,
Why indeed can’t they be more like us? It would make things a hell of a lot simpler, a great deal more orderly and considerably quieter as well.
Always nice a treat to have you stop in.
Best,
Don
…Not to be indelicate but I saw a very troubling news article about vodka tampons on something called butt chugging…”
I actually went and looked this up. While the above sounds disgusting, (eeewww) I got to thinking about how there was real cocaine in coca~cola and how women were regularly dosed with laudenum (opiates) and how doctors used to use vibrators on women to cure them of “hysteria.”
At one point churches had to outlaw the smoking of tobacco and marijuana in services, but at least they didn’t slit the nostrils of smokers like the Tzar did. (Ow)
I read about people taking coffee enemas for health (eh?) and wonder what kind of buzz that gives those old farts (let’s be honest, no kid is going to take a coffee enema – maybe Red Bull, but not coffee).
I used to be an addictions counselor and you simply do not want to know what adults do to find an open vein they can inject heroine or a “speedball” into.
Thank you another boomer blog,
That’s one frightening comment. I’ll admit there is a long history of unusual behavior on this planet but this vodka tampon thing really has me stumped. I may be naive but I don’t see the benefit. Surely to god if you’re looking to get drunk you could just drink the vodka? And if you’re looking to get drunk fast you could just make it a double and go light on the tonic?
Best I don’t know the details, anotherboomerblog, they might just drive me to injecting rye soaked moth balls.
Best regards,
Don
Hi Don,
I loved your witty observations about the young generation vs. the old one. It’s hilarious!
Tell it like it is! It’s exactly what I comment with my wife all the time, what a difference between our childhood and our kid’s. It’s the new American Society.
H.J.
Thank you for the comment H.J.
I appreciate the kind words and your taking the time to visit. Pass on my best to your wife. I hope to hear from you again.
All the best,
Don
Well said Mr. Mills. I couldn’t agree with you more. Aloha……
Aloha to you as well Being Jewish In Hawaii.
Very nice to hear from you. I trust all is well.
Best,
Don
Hahaha, I’m a millennial, and I’m gonna put you all to shame. You guys just need to get over yourselves, and know that no matter what you say about us, we still won’t care. Because you guys are trying to make it appear as if you’re hear to resolve some sort of moral or ethical issue, but really it is very easy to see that it’s just a pathetic attempt to talk down on us to make yourselves feel superior.
I’ve noticed that majority of generation x habit of wanting someone or something to point the finger at when times are rough. Another thing i seem to notice is that your generation is extremely close-minded and very hypocritical.
To be honest, your article didn’t interest me enough to read more that the title and 2 1/2 lines.
Let you all in on a little secret. My generation just doesnt care about what yours has to say, we really don’t. We know that every older generation complains about the younger one.
Just keep this in mind, we are the future of the world, this little attention attempt you got going on isn’t convincing, it’s just funny.
Thank you Juan,
Thanks for letting us in on the secret about your generation lad. I think some of us had an inkling you weren’t inclined to pay us much heed but it’s good to have it confirmed. Hopefully spilling that little truth won’t get you drummed out of the club by your peers.
Now, I hate to pick, but I find this “we are the future of the world” thing a little damned pompous. It seems like every young person who’s visited lately has been thumping their chest and using that phrase. I’m assuming it must be the tag line on some tennis shoe commercial or something.
In any case, you aren’t the damned future of the world. Your generation has a 25 to 35 year window of influence at best and then you’re done. And really, I suspect that despite whatever worldwide havoc you and your friends wreak, the planet will manage somehow to outlive you. In fact, it will undoubtedly look back in 2 or 3 thousand years, shake its head and just consider your brief rule in much the way I view a weekend I spent in Dayton in 1957 – as a meaningless indiscretion I’m not particularly proud of and eager to forget.
Seriously lad, if your generation’s entire plan for the future is to stand around and yell “we are the future” I suspect very little will ever get done. Better if you think of yourself in the singular and consider what you as an individual might make of your future and how you could potentially do something of value. “I am the future plumber of East Croyden” at least has something tangible to it. And it’s pithier too.
In any case, Juan, I appreciate the visit and the comment. Good luck in the future.
Best regards,
Don
Hey Juan I completely agree with you. Just Wanted to Say That.
Also DON!
You need to stop being so rude to Juan…I dont like it
And also you need to QUIT insulting MY generation
It has nothing to do with you. NOTHING! so CUT. IT. OUT.!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Haha, you idiots know that this article is only poking fun at our generation right? Quit being such sensitive little wussies. Half the ppl out there spend half their time in front of computers, so guess what: we ARE bigger sissies then the generations that preceded us. Just look at all the fatties and ppl that can’t even walk the length of a grocery store parking lot. They circle and circle just to find a spot 20 ft closer. Lazy, lazy, lazy.
Mr Mills is polite and pleasant to everyone, even vile, illiterate, young people who are so full of themselves and have so little intestinal fortitude that they cry and howl every time they see something remotely negative about their generation, never mind themselves.
Your attitude only proves his allegation that you are a bunch of hyper-sensitive crybabies who need to toughen up.
Mission accomplished, hero.
Too true. And don’t forget about telling them “That’s wonderful!” or “Good job!” for every single thing that they do. Oh, and a trophy, for just participating.
Many thanks lovelyshadesofnostalgia,
I concur. I heard my neighbor call her son a genius the other day. He’s 33, lives in her basement, sells used hookah pipes on Ebay and doesn’t have any pants that aren’t of the sweat variety. Genius? May have been a slight overstatement.
Best regards and thanks for stopping in.
Don
Hello, Mr Mills! I am trying to think of something original to say, but it will have to suffice for me to write that truer words have not been spoken since Einstein’s quote about stupidity.
Many thanks Words of Oddball Wisdom,
That’s very kind of you. I appreciate your taking the time to visit. Hope to hear from you again.
All the best,
Don
I completely agree that young people are too soft, even though they like to think they are “hard core”
I enjoyed reading what you have to say!
Thank you Melanie,
Hard core? Rotten to the core perhaps but hard? Never.
Thanks for stopping in.
All the best,
Don
Wonderful as always, sir.
Thank you kindly Theasaurus.
Very nice of you to say. I appreciate it.
Best,
Don
OK I dont know who you are or what you think you can accomplish by writing those things about teenagers but you need to cut the crap. I don’t care if this site is supposed to be a joke or not. I’m 14…only been that old for about a month…and I’m a freshman in highschool. I came across your site when I was researching about teen discrimination and how unfair it is. When I saw what you had to say…I cant even BEGIN to tell you how FURIOUS I was. Like who do you think you are writing those things about us??? I should report you. You are unfairly judging teens because you think you know everything and if we dont live like you then we don’t deserve to be respected. What? HELLO we are people too. I’m going to do something about this. Have your site shut down. Just because I’m young doesnt mean I can’t do that. I CAN and I WILL because you are unfairly judging us!!!!
Many thanks flatline,
That’s quite the comment. I half expected to wake up this morning finding myself wished into a cornfield. Still, full marks for giving a damn and taking a stand.
Sorry for setting you off there, lad. Hope you’ve had a chance to calm down.
All the best,
Don
________,
Whoa bull. Do yourself a favor and spend the next 4 years trying to get laid. It will mellow you out a bit.
And What’s Wrong With Disorders HUH??? Disorders Is Something You Born With. You Hatin Cuz We Werent Born Perfect And Flawless Like You? SHALLOW!!!!!
Hi __________
I suppose they haven’t covered irony in your English class yet. Don’t worry – you’ll get to it one day.
Kind regards,
Thea.
LOL – good one Thea
Cheers, Curmudgeon in Training. (LOVE your name, by the way.)
I don’t think _________’s got a grasp on proper use of capital letters either. I look at his/her second comment and automatically think of Winnie-the-Pooh, although I’m sure that’s not what _________ intended, given his/her tone. Perhaps he/she suffers from some form of Capital Letter Disorder. Poor thing.
I love your post Mr Mills. I agree that the young are soft. The brats have never heard anything but positive commentary on their pathetic lives. As you said, criticism is wrongly considered abuse these days.Perhaps being told ‘no’ or ‘you can do better’ would have stopped them thinking that they will be able to change the world by merely existing. Effort is the thing that will change the world, not whining!
You know, I enjoy Don’s ascorbic humor, but it seems to me that things are cutting a bit too close to the bone here.
Metan, you and I must live in alternate universes. My grandkids and their friends are told “no” and given constructive criticism, and their parents, coaches, etc. expect them to do their best. Their friends are the same way. That being said, I also have told them all that they are perfect exactly as they are – along the lines of “God don’t make no junk.” We each have our own inner glow and value in life and they’ll find theirs.
I see lots of young people who strive mightily. I also see lots of older people who snivel and whine about how life has not done right by them. That doesn’t mean that all older people need to put a cork in it and get on with things.
Don’s a satirist and a good one, but I don’t think he really means a frontal assault on the world’s young. There is a vast difference one to the other from culture to culture and individual to individual. There may be individuals who are non-functional. I met lots in social work and I meet lots in law. But for each non-functional individual there are several who are functional.
Potential is not necessarily performance….and satire is lost on the unimaginative .
Many thanks Dan,
Appreciate the comment and your taking the time to leave it.
All the best,
Don
Even your comments to comments are hilarious!!
Give ’em hell Don!!!
Many thanks Rick,
Nice to hear from you, lad. Hope all is well.
Best,
Don
I love you. If I weren’t already married, I’d marry you so hard you’d have problems finding your teeth in the morning. That’s how much I love you.
Thank you Nwunye,
I’m extremely flattered. Truth be told though, you wouldn’t need to marry me too hard in order to cause tooth finding troubles – I already spend at least an hour each morning searching for them.
Last week I found them in the vegetable crisper next to my car keys and small ball of elastic bands. The week before that I discovered them in the dishwasher one day and the glove compartment of my car the next. Thankfully, I have a few spare pairs kicking around for emergencies.
It was very nice to hear from you, Nwunye. I do hope you’ll stop by again.
Best regards,
Don
I could not agree with you more. You are completely right. That’s indeed the problem with all of us young people today.
Spare the rod, spoil the child. 🙂
Yep, I’d like a refund on all the time, love, energy, sleepless nights, and CASH I invested in the ungrateful little buggers. Hope I live to see them parenting. Instant karma’s coming to get ya kids.
I was more than disappointed to hear my 9 yr. old niece complained she didn’t like walking.
And she plays ice hockey and gymnastics. Obviously she is chauffered by her parents.
And she has parents who do exercise…jogging and at the local “Y”.
Sometimes it is the parent that has to integrate ordinary activities rain or shine, with their kids.
Quite hilarious. Not even sure how I found your site but well worth the read! I was lucky to be raised by a rather sensical mother. I wish parents would stop giving their children everything they didn’t have….
so our genaration is too dame soft?? Funny, really this article is just an excuse for you to realese all your bitter feelings of having a pathetic life that never amounted to nothing special in this world. Your pissed off and decide to take your anger out on all the young people today the ones who actually go to college and make something out of thier life instead of being whipped for not fixing around at home. Seriously come on stop being an a-hole and shut the hell up. This generation is better and more informed than yours has ever been and what do you think we raise ourselves there are parents that screw thier kids over like yours seem to have done. I would rather be soft anyday then get slapped around and have a greater percent of becoming a killer or bitter idiot who takes his anger out on others. check yourself before you talk crap about my generation figure out all the positive things your generation has done and compare it to mine. then tell me whose really useless putting all the blame on teenagers just because they seem like an easy target to you
well have a suprise for you while in your generation while you guys were beat and kept your mouths shut pretending to be tough we actually speak up we’re not whimps unlike others we have a voice for a reason we are independent individuals with a real viewpoint of the future so don’t you dare critizes us. GET A FREAKING LIFE AND FIND OTHERS TO CRITIZE. WHY DON’T YOU START WITH YOURSELF!!!!!
Thank you Sula,
I hate to be harsh, junior, but if you’re going to take a stand and make a point take the extra 45 seconds and read over your work before you hit the “post comment” button. Perhaps if parents and teachers were forcing you young people to learn the basics of the English language instead of allowing you to express your individuality by jumping up and down on your desks while screaming profanity you’d be able to put a sentence together that actually made your point instead of entirely undermining it. Clearly the education system has been far too soft on you.
You may have a viewpoint, lad, but until you learn how to express it in a manner that is semi-coherent, expecting people to listen to it may be a challenge. I hope you take that in the spirit intended.
All the best and good luck in the future.
Don
p.s. Are you that gay Star Trek lad or do I have you confused with Bones? I got mixed up when they brought in that English Captain with the damned bald head.
Obviously the point of the paragraph was not my grammar. Did you forget to comment on anything else seems like I am right and you just refused to acknowledge it. Second of all go say all that crap to someone who’s first language and only language is just English, and i love it how you called me gay at the end. It’s funny I thought you elders were suppose to be mature. Thanks for your reply it feels great to know what type of worthless,unsupportive adults we have these days. Keep on bringing other kids down that’s a great job your doing. Also calling me basically dumb is pretty funny, since I’m from a foreign country and still manage to achieve a solid 3.8 G.P.A and win a presidential award. You seem to be great at judging others. I really hope that none of your false, inconsiderate comments get to others and make them feel insecure, or horrible about themselves and my parents have done a wonderful job of raising me. Thanks for asking. They taught me everything that has brought me to where I am today they also taught me to ignore and never take to heart the bitter lies others say.
Dear Sula, this is a satire column. I assume you know what satire is, yes? Satire is a form of comedy and it can be as gentle as that of Dr. Seuss or hateful anti-everybody commentary. In some countries Satarists are jailed or executed. Americans value satire. In fact, Samuel Clements (Mark Twain) is probably our favorite satirist.
Further, Sula, Don pointed out the similarity between Sulu (the character on the orginal Star Trek who has come out as gay and who is very active on the net these days) and Sula. Your name is one letter off. Again, satire. And, frankly, as a FB follower of George Takai I’d accept a comparison as a compliment (but he’s not nasty in his treatment of others). If you were not raised here and not of an age, you’d entirely miss the cultural reference and misconstrue what’s being said. In fact, you ignored his well-meant Trek references entirely.
English is a subtle language and the most complex on Earth – with layers within layers of meaning. If you’re not a part of the culture (for instance – Sulu being gay) you can misunderstand things very easily.
You take both yourself and this blog far too seriously. Satire is often intended to be humorous, but it can be quite horrifying at times. Satire mocks people and ideas by prentending to support them. It is extremely subtle and easily misunderstood by addressing difficult subjects and individuals. It can also be moralistic and preachy at times.
As an ESL individual you’re not getting the nuances of the satire here. In my law school at least half of the students were ESL and while many were quite brilliant they often had problems with colloquial communications and forms of humor that depended upon understanding the subtlty of the language. I remember helping one brilliiant doctor from Switzerland deconstruct a test based on the song, “The Gambler.” She had no idea what the song meant and she flunked the test.
I tutor students in law school and in areas of the bar (most of them ESL) and I can assure you that ESL issues haunt people – just as if I went to Sweeden and had to work in Sweedish I’d be hard pressed to get the subtle humor of the language and the culture. You can be the most brilliant person on earth and still miss the contextual aspects of something like satire.
You can stop swinging wildly now, trying to engage in a fight that is not happening. You’re embarrassing yourself, Sula, and you don’t know it.
Peace and long life. Live long and prosper.
Thanks for your comment Another Boomer Blog but I actually never took an ESL class. None of my classes aside from pre-kinder, through third grade (Since I lived in D.R at the time) were in Spanish. Yet I still manage to maintain myself as an A+ and B+ student through it all, though I am sure that none of that matters to you. In addition, I do know what a satire column is; I have actually done many of my own, which teachers consider to be exceptionally well written. Thanks for your concern but I was actually talking to Don, no disrespect intended. However, I would like to thank you for clearing that confusion with Star Trek I have never watched the movie so I never would have known it was a complement.
As for Mr. Mills, I feel as though I owe you an apology. I went off on you in my last comment and although I feel as though I had, a good reason to I was very disrespectful to you. Therefore, I sincerely apologize and actually applaud you for giving me a reason to argue. I love nothing more than a good argument. I also want to say that I have read a few of your other discussions and I agree with a lot of them. There are many flaws in today’s generation that should be acknowledged, and you have done a wonderful job of bringing them into the light. I do have to say though that not all young people behave this way there are many motivated individuals that should also be taken into consideration.
Again, I would like to thank you for bringing forward all these reasons and being able to enrage me in such a matter (It’s actually not that often that I get upset) and again my apologies for disrespecting you. My parents have always raised me to respect my elders regardless of the circumstances and I am sure my comments would put them to shame.
Sincerely, Sula
p.s. You really remind me of a good friend of mine. It’s surprising your resemblance, not in physical features but in the attitude and personality that I manage to pick up from your writing.
Oh, dear, I hope we can read this since it may be just a few letters wide. My apologies if I misread anything. I thought you were ESL. As I said, I’ve many students – brilliant folks – who learned English as a Second Language and it confounds them at times. Frankly, even Americans without a good grasp of the language can also be confounded. I applaud your ability to do well in multiple languages. I’m struggling to become competent in ASL, but I don’t have to write in it. Whew!
As to kids needing to learn how to toughen up, the older generation has been saying this about the younger generation since the time of the Egyptian hieroglyphs. Welcome to the world of older/younger and miscommunications.
My thoughts? Um, you don’t need to do what I did. The world has changed. I didn’t need to do what my Dad did. My world had changed from his. My daughter went through more hell in school than I ever did because I had 89 students in my HS graduating class and her class had more folks than the people who lived in the town I grew up in. Toughen up? I sometimes wonder if I could deal with the world my grandkids are in with cyber bullies and the like.
I know you were talking to Don, but I am a buttinski. 😉 I’m also a mediator/negotiator at heart and I like to see people come together and end up walking away together singing Kumbaya. (smile)
Live long and prosper. And watch those Lt. Sulu sword fights – they’re awesome.
Don, do you by any chance follow George Takai on Facebook or his blog That’s So Takai? He’s quite the fellow for humor on FB and his passion to never let the Japanese Internment fade from the memory of Americans are both of value.
Thank you Another Boomer Blog.
I hadn’t heard of his blog. Many thanks for the tip – I’ll be sure to check that out. And thanks for the mediation but I’m not sure you’d want to hear my sing Kumbaya. I’m told that when I sing I sound like a cross between a distressed seal and a hungry alley cat.
All the best,
Don
How fascinating you took this post so to heart Sula… Calm down please and stop proving Don’s point. Cheers~
I’m new to your blog, other than finding your post hilarious it does have element of truth in it. We have become to cosy with our surroundings, rights, and damn mobile phones that practically can do anything other than have sex with it.
We need to eat nails for breakfast and have a bath in ice-cold-ponds we find anywhere.
That’s the spirit lad – good to see some spunk in the younger generation!And don’t forget walking to school, preferably uphill both ways, barefoot in the snow.
I once ate an unfrosted pop tart and then cried and cried all day long. I was despondent.
Don,
I am 25 years old and I completely agree with you. The younger generations are soft and un masculine. I believe in hard work and living as a community, being respectful, etc. The only problem is all of the hard bone breaking work has been sold out and replaced…and by whom??? There is almost no masculine model to shape our selves from.
I haven’t read every comment on this board but I am sure this has been said. Generation Y was raised for the most part by the baby boomers. They are influenced by that generation and the change in culture it brought as a generation and so forth. If the Boomers and Gen-y are in debt and unstable…if our parents do it…what should that tell everyone.
Good fruit cannot come from bad trees…and if you look around America, or what is left of it, the future is very easy to predict. In fact, the Constitution proves a solid model for most important things worth believing in and undoubtedly what you also beleive in.
You only get what you give, and very few want to give.
As one of those ‘young people’, I completely agree, and it’s sad…
Well, i guess on a large scale you’re right, but I for one am goddamn tired of older people stereotyping all young people. I have ambition, I don’t sit around all day “leveling up in Donkey Kong”, I am not over weight, I eat normal food, I work hard, I am respectful and I can go on and on but I don’t want to put myself on the high horse. I just can’t stand it when older people think all of us act the way that one stupid, whinny, attention grabber does. I could care less about cell phones and TV. And you know what else, I enjoy gritty hard work, and I have some nice calluses. All in all, you need to stop whining as much as my generation and realize that there are decent young people still around. We just don’t throw it in every bodies faces like our stereotypical counterparts. When its time for us to run the country, myself and other hard working teens will have an easy time overcoming the lazy, dumb dingbats of our generation. Finally, too really hit home, older people created these things that are ravaging the youth. Its time for older people to realize that they are making kids soft with all this political correctness bullshit and what not. You make it sound like it was completely up to children to be raised the way they were; it is our parents and predecessors that should take the most blame, until teenage years at least. Apparently it is possible to raise decent children these days, otherwise I’d be too dumb and lazy to type coherent sentences. But you know, maybe it is worse than I thought because I don’t associate with “these” types of kids. The more I think about it, actually, the more I realize how many more of “these” kids there are… ah well screw it and screw them. I’m going to keep on moving past my idiotic peers and pessimistic elders. Judging from your picture, I can see you must have been young pre-60s and I don’t mean to target your generation for creating the current youth; were really a product of post WWII America.
-Oh, and on a side note, I read a lot of the other comments and it seams to me that most of them are regarding themselves a little too highly. Just because they are an “adult” now doesn’t mean they weren’t dumb youths or that they’re not dumb now. From my experience it seems most older people are very closed-minded and unable to accept that some of us youths are decent. They think they are so smart and everything they do is correct.
I’m 16, and I love this blog! Have you written a book, yet?
Hello Sir,
I absolutely agree! Children now days have no immune system, instead of playing in sewer water and fighting off polio, they are given vaccines so they never have to fight to survive. Everything children are touching have been sanitized to the point that coming in contact with such a surface could sanitize a third-world country.
First I will state that even though I am not as tough as you Mr. Mills, being from a younger generation and all, I had plenty of good wholesome childhood memories playing with shopping carts that were stacked next to dumpsters. Sometimes you got cut by jagged garbage ridden metal, but that never stopped us! Also I never got sick from it and only got patched up once we came inside at sunset. Then my mother would disinfect my wounds with good old fashion isopropyl alcohol. Then I would pick at my scabs until they got infected….anyway I digress.
Now days children get splinters or scrape their knee and they act like they have been harassed by a pack of hyenas while getting their limbs chewed off by rabid wolverines. Doctors are giving out antibiotics for simple infections because parents do not want their child to be cut and have infection drained. I once cut myself open with kitchen a knifet cure myself of a particularly nasty puss pocket, then i squeeze it out with the fingers that God gave me. I might have a scar now , but when I look at that scar it makes it easy for me to recall how my blood was shed in the fight my health. That is what we need to toughen up these children more blood letting, a little blood letting never hurt anyone…
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bloodletting
Good day sir,
Andrew Chinn
not just tax dollars supporting cell phones for the “low-income”…look at all the miscellaneous “universal” charges on your bills (land-lines too)
from a no-income bill-payer
Reblogged this on Smart Parentology.
First off, let me state that I fit into the “young person” category.
The human race’s advancements have made a significant amount of manual labour unnecessary, from “rendering sheep fat” (no one does jack shit with sheep fat anymore, except maybe make dog food with it) to “toting ice blocks” (who uses ice anyways?). The manual labour that used to be necessary is now either done by some robot at a factory or unnecessary due to some other piece of technology.
Parents aren’t so fiery now because study after study proved them wrong, and law is on the side of children when it comes to punishment by applying physical force.
Society has advanced enough that less sacrifices have to be made.
This all adds up to more free time.
Young people text nowadays because their parents refuse to let them drag themselves to their friend’s house for fear of gangsters and rapists.
As for idiot, the mean IQ increases by 6 every generation, and my IQ is 142, probably higher than your’s.
By the way, I find your blog somewhat offensive and extremely unaccepting of advances in technology.
Don,
I probably fall into your catergory of “lazy kids” based on my age. I assure you that it is an unfair assumption to think that “all” of a said demographic or cohort are the same. I think you are profoundly ingnorant for publicly making such biased, INEXPERIENCED, accusations. That’s right, inexperienced…. Age does not quantify experience, especially if you hold on to biases and hate. You want to blame parents? blame yourself. You blazed the trail and set the pace. Maybe there is a generation between you and I, maybe not. My father is about 70 and I’m 27. I dont compromise my morals for anyone, nor do I bend or crumble. The world was different 10, 20, 50 years ago. Clearly the technological and scientific advances have made you bitter- Cant blame you for that. I work with people 65+ everyday and the VAST MAJORITY (notice I said vast majority so-as-to not make myself look like an asshole by assuming “everyone”)— The vast majority of them are self entitled drains on the current state of the world. They are the line cutters, the people buying 65 lottery tickets in front of me on line, the ones driving with extreme physical or mental issues that they cant come to terms with and give up the car, the ones that say “Oh, that was before your time” etcetcetc. The only thing that would cause me to retire is my health. Realistically no one gives a shit how hard you worked, nor how hard I work. I dont care either. What I care about is the safety and security of my family and will do what it takes to get it. Im so impressed that you did whatever you did with sheep fat? I started working in a corrugated packaging plant when I was 13. I don’t expect some type of special recognition or treatment for doing so.
Your rants are blind and one-sided, and you are exactly the type of old person I seek out to fu*k with. People like you provide me only with mild entertainment. Granted, I just adore a good convo with any military vet, or anyone over 60 that has something constructive or innovative to talk about. Most don’t as they are opposed to ANY type of change. Just placing a disclaimer that I do not discriminate against age groups. (Just know that you have about 3-7 seconds to demonstrate respect and engage in a worth while conversation.) You’re clearly spinning around with your finger out looking where to point it. PARENTS, PARENTS, PARENTS. Blame them (you), and the generations to come before. And no, it’s not cold in here… You’re just dying 🙂
Thanks very much for the comment Geny,
I appreciate the clarification on the temperature. I’m wearing two pairs of long underwear at the moment (and a rather fetching wool cap) but no matter what I do I just can’t seem to shake this damned chill. I’m glad to know it’s just a symptom of my impending death and not some indication that my furnace is on the fritz. Dying I can afford – a new furnace isn’t in the budget.
Thanks again for taking the time to write.
Best regards,
Don
p.s. Just to clarify, as I teen I used sheep fat primarily to manufacture homemade crayons, make floor wax and to slick down my rather unmanageable cowlick.
I work with a bunch of twenty-somethings, so I can completely relate to this post. And while they are certainly not all able to be lumped into one category, it’s pretty damned close. I wrote a post myself about their sense of entitlement. It’s simple, do the work, achieve the accolades and reap the rewards.
Thanks, Don, for telling it like it is.
Dear Mr. Mills,
I love this blog. I love everything about it from the way you write to how humorous your sarcasm is how I, a twenty year old, can relate to these posts, mainly because what you’re saying is true. It’s also extremely relatable in the sense that your posts have the ability to speak to people from a different, more mature and well rounded generation and then to us, the teens and young adults of this world who know that there lies some serious validity in these posts.
The fact that you tell it like it is a breath of fresh air compared to so many people who are afraid to hurt someone’s feelings by what they say. Much like this post states, young people need to toughen up.
I love this blog so much for its honesty, quality of writing and how easy it is to relate to.
PS: I also loved the line about how criticism is a notice of limitations within a person but you took away some of the sting by encouraging us to do better because of it rather than just getting all upset about it. Amazing, amazing stuff.
Well said. And I’m 27
There is nothing wrong with a little constructive criticism. Kids need to learn that the world isnt all flowers and gummy bears. Every now and then yes you will get picked on and insulted. From here you can either accept their insults and use them to better yourself or ignore them completely. People think that bullying has gotten a lot worse these days although i think that it is partly because kids are taking offence to the smaller things that were considered as fooling around years ago.
Reblogged this on katiewilkinson13 and commented:
agreed
Heck, if my dad would live his life in the current century (he’s still alive – just old-fashioned), I’d swear you were him. Meanwhile, to add to youth’s softness: Not only ‘snow’ days off from school, they get ‘heat’ days and phys ed classes have been cut. Perhaps the last might be due to busted thumb joints from texting…
Fuck yeah!!
sounds as if you are a grumpy old fart who either hates the world or got lost in old age. the youth may be constructed differently nowadays, but we are definitely more advanced in both knowledge and technology. times change, stop living in the past, listen to yourself and harden the fuck up.
I’m 17 and this is so true. Hilarious/Pathetic!
Reblogged this on Wreck This. and commented:
I’m 17 and let me tell you, every bit of this was pathetically true and most definitely hilarious.
No truer words ever spoken. Wish I lived back in the “Little House on the Prairie” days.
Reblogged this on Louisiana Country Mama and commented:
One of the 2nd blogs I read as I started out on my journey to find blogs worth following. In my opinion this is one worth following. I’m more of an old-fashioned type person and I like the musings of this blogger. Will be keeping a close eye on this one!
I’m a bit scared really, I don’t discriminate older people in fact, i had 2 that died that i helped stay in their home, being a social worker i respected them but too much, older generations of men especially seem to have it out for younger people. Specifically I am talking about clumping all younger people in one category and in my case being bisexual, getting burnt with HIV from someone that was older than my dad, to teach me a lesson i didn’t need. I knew the importance of life. I had a low risk (oral) encounter to show that not all young guys are jerks, and i should have discriminated, i was lied to in the worst way and told a story to test my naive mind and prove i was vulnerable. I suffer everyday with HIV symptoms and will die before 35 from someone almost 70 years of age, again very stupid on my part but i cant change 7 years ago and that night. But i see on the net so many older people looking for young and very young people to have no strings sex with and a lot have admitted to me they all need a hard lesson on life. I didn’t. I wish i could prove my otherwise good ethics and morals but it doesn’t matter , but please older generation, do not harm any more young guy cause he has an ipod or because you didn’t have gay marriage, not our fault.
Amen, amen and Amen… God help Them.
Eh you are wrong. The ones aren’t like that are the ones you never hear about.
Of course the rowdy and reckless get recognization, we are in America.
Cheers.
“Our youth now love luxury. They have bad manners, contempt for authority; they show disrespect for their elders and love chatter in place of exercise; they no longer rise when elders enter the room; they contradict their parents, chatter before company; gobble up their food and tyrannize their teachers.” Socrates said this 2400 years ago… Kinda makes you wonder…
Absolute genius. It’s like Ron Swanson is blogging.
Great stuff, loved it! Couldn’t help but have thoughts of an aged Ignatius J. Reilly running through my head. I’ll be following for more great posts to come.
Reblogged this on tabajjwapeter and commented:
young people
The bad education to young people causes these problems, it is time to make youth become independent without the help of parents.
Don for president !
Here in Australia we have a saying if someone is acting like they’re wrapped in cotton wool” : “Have a teaspoon of cement – harden the f*ck up”
Unfortunately our nanny state took cement in single doses off the shelf because it didn’t meet health regulations… really – I think that was the point.
Now you can only get it in school size bags, which, when I come to think of it, is not such a bad thing. Line ’em up like the vaccination queues they had back in our day.
Being the dad of just such a teenager and being regularly subjected the great pudding taking up the sofa, messing up my cushions and hogging the TV with his infernal play station I can tell you that it’s quite infuriating.
Back in my day a play station was a stick and some dirt, and damn good it was for my health and fitness.
Understand that you’re trying to get the point across but can’t help noticing you sound very bitter in your post though
I believe you that the main problem with our young people today, not only in the United States, but also here in my country, is that they are too damned soft and emotional. My 19 year old son asked permission to go jogging last Sunday night. He did not come home nor called to inform us of his whereabouts. We ended up worried sick. My husband left, Monday at 5:00am for his business trip to Vietnam, I was left to wait for our son to come home. Isaiah, came home before 7:00am without an apology for what happened the night before. He was so darn indifferent, i totally lost it. I gave him a luggage and asked him to leave our house immediately. I might have reacted and decided poorly, but, I know that I have been a good mother to him and I have not done anything wrong to warrant such a crappy treatment from him. I felt that I do not deserve that kind of behavior from him nor from anyone. But what else can I do? I did not even see an iota of remorse from his eyes. And those eyes were supposed to be the windows of his soul right? How should I proceed henceforth? By the way, I came along your blogs because I was asking google how to handle problematic young men of today’s generation. I have been raised by my grandmother, and well she basically taught me a lot of what you wrote in your articles. God bless you kind Sir.
You were very right to do what you did Ellen. Why if it were my son I would have taken him out behind the barn (you do have a barn don’t you?) and horsewhipped him. Today’s youth are just so inconsiderate of all the hard work their parents have put into raising them. A little horsewhipping might just beat some sense into them.
I haven’t seen Mr. Mills in quite some time, been too old and sick myself to get out of the house to go visit, but I’m sure if he’s still breathing he’ll agree with me.
As a young person, you are right.
thanks for share I really appreciate for very helpful article God bless you ….