Off topic. Bad Seeds

[ryanh]

Jay,
I will not speak for Tom, but I'll tell you how my thoughts. I am closer to your age than toms (I think). The presence of having a kid is what seperates us (me and you). Pre kid I probably would have revved the engine and chirped a little tire with my big chrome bumper pointed at that punk.

Why? Because I had nothing to lose (maybe some teeth). Now I have everything to lose. You think differently.

Another thought. People like this moron would do good with a little military disciplin.

It goes back to my whole "society does not let boys become men" statement before.

 

[tomgamber]

ryanh wrote:
Jay,
I am closer to your age than toms (I think).

If this is true, ryan, you MUST stop saying you are old because that makes me down right ancient...it also makes jack a fossil.

The presence of having a kid is what seperates us (me and you). Pre kid I probably would have revved the engine and chirped a little tire with my big chrome bumper pointed at that punk.

Why? Because I had nothing to lose (maybe some teeth). Now I have everything to lose. You think differently.

Thats a more direct way of saying what I was TRYING to say.

 

[troutbert]

ryanh wrote:
Just wanted a broader consensus.

I was on my way to work this AM and a guy walked in front of me and gave me a dirty look. I obliged and returned said dirty look.

Ryanh, without knowing more about the situation it's hard to comment. Is there any possible reason that you can think of that he gave you a dirty look? What was the driver/pedestrian situation? Who had the right of way?

I both drive and walk frequently, so I see both sides of the coin. What's clear to me is that many people, both drivers and pedestrians have no idea at all what the right of way rules are.

So a lot of the angry encounters I see between drivers and pedestrians comes from that confusion about not knowing what the rules of right away are in intersections.

From the pedestrian point-of-view this is what I see all the time. I'll walk up to the intersection and the light is green. I start walking across the intersection. In that case I have the right-of-way over anyone turning through that intersection. The person going straight through on a green has the right-of-way over the person turning. The person turning is required to yield. That's the law. But a lot of people don't know the law and will drive aggressively right at you and glare and yell etc.

Of course some people don't CARE what the rules are. But a lot of people honestly think the pedestrian violated the rules.

Some pedestrians screw up by thinking the pedestrians have the right of way regardless, so they just step out, even on a red light, or just walk right across the middle of the street in front of oncoming traffic. There are problems on both sides.


Little Juniata,
Check out the dog training books by Ian Dunbar. Verrrrryy good stuff. There's been a lot of changes for the better in dog training.

 

[JackM]

tomgamber wrote:
...it also makes jack a fossil.

For the record, Tom is referring to Jack Steel... :-o

 

[ryanh]

Jack you are at least Mesozoic. We both know it.

Troutbert,
The guy walked down the middle of the street and i was no where near him when he started giving me the stink face.

 

[RLeeP]

Preening, aggressive behavior is fairly common in fairly recent post-pubescent males across the species spectrum of the animal kingdom.

In humans though, as the years go by, it is usually replaced by other concerns like: "Why is my lower back locking up" or "Do I have an hour free to try to tinkle" or "why did I put the overdue book in the refrigerator and take the tabasco sauce to the library...

All kidding aside though, IMO, in the last 30 years, the culture has coarsened considerably, civility has greatly waned and self-absorbtion is at an all time high.

Lot's of theories why, but I don't particularly subscribe to any one of them as the primary cause. I do think though that there is a link between what is going on and the technological advances of the past 50-100 years. We've taken an awful lot of the need to actually interact F2F with another human right out of the calculus. IMO, partially because of this, the world is a much interpersonally colder place than it was when I was a kid in the 50's and 60's.

Just a viewpoint. YMMV...

 

[TimMurphy]

Dear RLeeP,

Great post! They say in order to get a point across you have to involve your audience. Your "tinkle" story and the confusion between the library book and the tabasco sauce got my attention right away. :-D

I do think you made an important point regarding how technology has greatly reduced the need for face to face interaction. It's gotten to the point that some people don't even use the phone anymore, it's all e-mail or text messaging. Real communication is becoming a lost art.

Regards,
A semi-old fart.
Tim Murphy

 

[littlejuniata]

troutbert: Thanks, I will check that guys stuff, but heck I don't like couch potato dogs, that is why I got a Schnauzer, he is now out in the snow, using his nose and head for a snowplow, (clear up over his ears) he is having a ball. All nine pounds of him

 

[Fishidiot]

Just as I posted last week - I'll reiterate my view that much of this can be attributed to the self-esteem movement so prevalent in the 90s. As a HS teacher, I see kids everyday that have been told all their childhood how smart they are. Some upper middle class suburban parents are in absolute denial about how mean-spirited some of their kids can be. Fortunately, the self -esteem movement has been discredited but today's youth are a product of it. And of course you're right about the lack of fathers and home discipline too. Hip hop culture is pernicious and leads to a lot of acting out and I'll also second the post regarding technology saturation and the lack of face to face interaction. My drill sergeant at Ft Benning could teach these boys a few things that would certainly make 'em better. :-x

 

[littlejuniata]

"real communication is a lost art" most recent example the latest debacle in the White House.

 

[Chaz]

New Yorkers. I've never met one I liked, I don't think.

 

[jayL]

Hmm... now I'm confused.

I thought you were disagreeing with my ideas as to why they act that way... the parents thing, and the public school stuff.

I never said that I'd confront the guy. I'm only like that when I get mad which isn't often. I totally agree with how you handled the situation.

Wrong wavelengths, I guess.

 

[Wulff-Man]

Very interesting thread with a lot of thoughtful discussion.

Based on what I'm seeing in the Philly news lately, corporal punishment is still present in the schools - it's just the students who are now corporal punishing the teachers. I think there's a lot of truth to what was said about the current youth culture as it relates to demanding respect without earning it, and feeling entitled (or even obliged) to responding to any perceived slight with violence (up to and including "respect by drive-by shooting"). I think that's why the poor teachers are being beaten for trying to impart any degree of discipline. The kids aren't used to it, and they see it as being disrespected to the point that that they are entitled to dishing out their own form of punishment. This is very sad and very scary as it pertains to what we have always referred to as the future of our country (our youth). I'm not sure where it comes from, and I hate to sound like my parents did when I was young and blame it on the hip-hop culture the kids grow up with, but it was somewhat shocking to me when I first started seeing my son and his friends act with much disrespect towards adults, starting at about age 11 or 12. As the product of 12 years of Catholic education (myself, not my son), I can assure you that I did not foster this kind of attitude with him. It just seemed to come from nowhere.

 

[ian_brown]

Speaking of dirty looks, when I walked into the Keswick Tavern this evening it seemed like the whole bar was scowling at me. I usually don't get that kind of reaction. Then I realized I was wearing my lucky orange baseball cap and new orange gloves.

 

[Chaz]

I think it's a reflection, in part, of how competitive our society has become. I also think parents just aren't teaching their kids good social skills, and allow too much self expression with no lecture about the consequenses. certainly T.V. plays a role, it that it gives kids the idea that violent behavior is ok. Then there is not anyone standing up to these thugs, a lot of feelings are surpressed in our society dispite what people think especially feeling of aggresion, they don't have any outlets.