So, a kid I used to babysit for a thousand years ago is one of my friends on Facebook. Don’t ask – basically I accepted him as a friend because I was interested to see what he and his family are up to. After the election, he changed his profile picture to be a pic of Obama with an Arab turban drawn on his head, and (oh yes, you guessed it) a pen1$ in his mouth. All of his immature 16 year old friends commented on how cool it was (a lot of them have equally offensive Obama pictures as THEIR profile pix) (and by profile pic I mean that these things show up on MY page whenever he comments or anything, as his sort of avatar*.) I shook my head and sighed, but then I read that one lone girl from their school commented extensively and EXTREMELY well (I mean, the verbal skills on this 16 year old are pretty good). She was pretty brave, and then they started calling her a terrorist, because they are dumb kids and that’s what dumb kids do.
I did it. I put a scolding mom-type comment on his thing that sort of stuck up for this girl, and told him in very mom tones that I expected better (he of course replied, in true 16 year old form, but I am not touching that again with a ten foot pole.) I am torn between thinking that this was a good idea – to at least expose him to a mature reaction. And part of me is like – FOREHEAD SLAP. You dumb idiot. Getting in arguments with teenaged boys is, like, the dumbest waste of time. And then I think – but he needs to hear some of this schoolmarmy stuff so that it will percolate in his teenaged brain and eventually have a subconscious effect and make him a better adult. And then I think – who cares if he’s a better adult? He’s not my kid, or my relative even. And then I think – but this is why there is so much hate in the world, because people don’t care about other people enough, they always think "someone else" will take care of what needs taking care of. And then I think – COME ON. Could we BE more dramatic about this? And then I think –
that I should get back to work, and waste no more time thinking about this. What do you think?
*I could delete his comment, and thereby delete this lovely pic of Obama from my profile, but I’d rather leave it up there and have his stupid prank displayed to the world.
A guy Sean and I were friends with in high school moved to Georgia and his politics took a hard, jagged turn to the right. Obviously, it\’s okay to be a conservative and a republican, we\’re all Americans and both parties want what\’s best for the country, they just have different ideas about how to do it. But this guy telegraphed the worst characteristics of the GOP base, sneering at poor people, making xenophobic remarks, etc. etc. If you read some of my blog posts from around the 04 election, you can see some of the stuff he posted on the comment threads. Anyway, Sean and I hung in there with him for awhile, and he was on our Facebook friends pages as well. But after Obama won, we awoke to fins that he had posted a picture of a confederate flag on his status update, and wrote a "warning" to "Yankees" (which he is, as well, being from Upstate NY) about being in danger of getting shot if they come down to Georgia in the next four years. I deleted him without a moment\’s hesitation, and Sean did the same. You should delete that guy from your account. You don\’t need to have to look at that crap every time you log on, anymore than I need to look at a confederate flag. Some people aren\’t worth the effort.
Our neighbor\’s teenager walks around with her boobs popping out, her gut showing and sticks her ass out as much as possible. Do I want to tell her that she\’s sending the wrong message and even though the guys in her class think she\’s a hot shit now this will fade and at some point she\’ll be in her mid-twenties and realize she doesn\’t know how to talk to men or women normally because flirting to get what she wants is the only thing she\’s ever known and it\’s no longer cute when you\’re in a work environment and women around you will make sure you never get promoted? Sure, but I won\’t, because lessons need to be learned.
This kid is 16, and if he\’s willing to put that crap on his f/b account then I can imagine what he says when he drinks too much of dad\’s booze and feels like mouthing off. He\’ll get popped in the smacker one day.
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