R.E.S.P.E.C.T.

I know that if you are under 25 and I say...."when I was a kid...." your eyes are going to glaze over and your mind will wander. It is not until you reach a certain age and a certain level of maturity that you realize wisdom and age walk hand in hand for a reason. The main reason is....experience. All the old sayings like, youth is wasted on the young in fact are true. Not until you live.....do you understand. More than that ....the younger you are....the wiser you think you are and the older you get....the more you realize just how much you have left to learn.

Okay....this is rant day and I am sure you are wondering where I am going with this. So let me start by saying.....when I was a kid my parents taught me many things. One of the important ones was...you respected adults. It didn't matter whether those adults where your parents, grand parents, teachers, neighbors or the mailman. If they were older you called them Mr. or Mrs. and ma'am and sir. In public especially,  you were expected to show manners.......not talk back and hold your tongue regardless of what was said. To this day I still say ma'am and sir and I still call my elders Mr. and Mrs. In my job too I notice that I have far more patience or maybe it is far more respect for those older than myself....... than some of my younger co-workers seem to.

So what is my rant already???? Young people and their level of disrespect for their elders. Again...when I was growing up, what was expected of me.....was expected of most. Kids would never dare call another friends mom or dad by their first name. They would never think to back talk a teacher or answer without a ma'am or sir being attached. So what has happened to our kids and grand kids? Suddenly we have a generation of kids who find disrespect not only acceptable but the norm. I realize that maybe with the changes in the world, more homes having both parents working and other social changes that maybe the emphasis of elder respect has been glossed over, but the level of disrespect in my opinion is really alarming.

In the last week alone I saw several situations where kids in their teens and early twenties showed total disrespect. One case was a young man driving down the road. He was in one of the newer mustangs. He looked to have been all of about 17 and he cut a woman who was probably a little older than myself off. She had kids in her car and she had to slam on her brakes to avoid an accident. He just laughed and flipped her off as he spun around her. REALLY? The next was going into the pharmacy. Two young men in their early twenties walked up to the door and first of all....stepped ahead of an elderly lady with a walker. Rather than step ahead and hold the door for her.....they walked ahead and let the door close on her as she was trying to enter. I grabbed it just as it was about to hit her walker. Again...REALLY? Then there was the young lady who was with her mother and wanted her computer fixed. It was determined that the issue was the young girls fault from misuse. The mother told her that they would bring it back to get it fixed when the girl could pay for it on her own (apparently she had a job). The girl was immediately angry and told me to go ahead and fix it. The mother looked embarrassed but held her ground and said "no...you are paying for this." The girl became enraged and said "this is f#%@ed up. You can be such a b#$%&!" She then grabbed the computer and slammed it shut further damaging the already damaged hinge. She then side swiped her mom with the computer and stomped out.....leaving mom red faced and apologetic! It was a bit embarrassing for me too.  What is going on with kids? Did the basics of respect both for others and themselves skip a generation?

Z constantly comes home and tells me stories of how kids talk to teachers with no worries of repercussions or punishment. He has told me how other kids talk to their parents, grand parents and other adults showing zero respect as if they were some how entitled to act this way. Z on the other hand knows if he goes to someones house he better address parents as Mr. or Mrs., he better say "please" and "thank you" and he better be respectful at all times. The same goes for teachers, neighbors and anyone who is older. He knows if it was ever reported to me that he was ever anything but respectful.....life as he knows it would end.

I guess many kids today aren't taught the fundamental aspects of respect. I learned this a long time ago with Man Childs friends, so with Z's friends.....I make sure that they the understand the rules where I am concerned and in my home....up front. They know what is and what is not acceptable in my home, that four letter words are not to be used here, that if they mess it up....they clean it up and that my word is law. Cross me and you don't come back. It is as simple as that. So far....I have had no problems. Well....just one. It never fails that when Z brings a new friend home....they always ask Z what they should call me. Apparently no one (but Z) calls anyone's parents by Mr. or Mrs. anymore and I don't want his friends calling me Lisa, so Z just tells them to call me Mom! So far that has worked and all involved are okay with it.

So again I ask....what has happened to kids respecting adults? I know this may sound old fashioned, but darn if I don't feel that I deserve some respect. Okay...so maybe this wasn't so much a rant and more of an unhappy observance on the human condition. At any rate...the verbalization of my dissatisfaction is complete and I will wish you all a good day. Happy Saturday everyone!