PA-PLAYA Again, it's just an overall awareness and realizing that one isn't entitled to act or behave however they wish when they're out in public.

Oh, they were aware of the situation, but most of them don't care and exercise bad judgement; Which we had been promoting for decades. The go get it and worry about the consequences later..........
Like drivers on the freeway would cut you off but not gaining more than a few care space in exchange they risk causing a chain of accidents.
Dumb ? No they are street smart.

Where did this sense of urgency to get ahead and regardless of the action come from ? Like the herd of sheep ran off the cliff in a frenzy ! Too much pressure to survive in today's world ?

      Release

      I think it's just more or less about perspective.

      These kids I'm talking about - they were sitting in car seats back during the 9-11 timeframe. They're too young to remember that for a period of weeks thereafter the terrorist attacks - their parents would actually slow down to let traffic merge onto the freeways, or hold doors open for strangers walking into the local groceries, or actually make eye-contact with people and offer a sympathetic smile of encouragement or support.

      And it's not just the kids, really... it's grownups too, but more so the kids these days. They've never entered into a time in their lives when relating to other people, be it because of a tragedy of some sort or some type of awareness that accompanies maturity, actually means something.

      If NASA came out tomorrow and issued a dire warning that a near-earth object that they've been monitoring has a 95% probability of impacting the earth and decimating 50% of the world's population by the weekend - shit changes real quick. Suddenly it ain't about what I'm gonna wear to the homecoming football game, or which drinking buddy I'm gonna spend most of the weekend with while the wife sits at home and takes care of the kids.

      Sadly, we only react when we're forced to, as if we've no other choice but to show some means of compassion and understanding because of looming circumstances. I know this to be true on a personal level, as I was awaiting a skin cancer diagnosis a little over a year ago. At the time I had no idea that my skin cancer was benign and not serious, yet every friend, relative or mutual acquaintance that was going through a much more serious bout with cancer suddenly grabbed my attention. Now mind you - once I learned my diagnosis wasn't life-threatening - I took a huge sigh of relief and thanked my Creator! But that great news didn't quell the enlightenment I suddenly developed for those who were not so fortunate in their own dire battles. It struck home. That could've just as easily been me - dealing with a malignant form of cancer and trying to somehow come to terms with how many reasonable days I had left on this planet with my family and friends and planning accordingly.

      You know how you get perspective? Two ways. The first way is through your upbringing, how your parents raised you. Now maybe you didn't have the greatest parents, or maybe you did. Maybe they were so distracted with dealing with their own problems that they never took the critical time needed to educate you about the important things in life. On the flip side - maybe you had great parents. Maybe too great, in fact. Maybe they put more of an emphasis on making sure you were pampered and didn't do without versus conditioning you to appreciate things like wanting something bad enough to force you to go out and earn it versus having it given to you. Or maybe your parents instilled these values in you and for whatever reasons - you decided that it was just a lot easier to go with the flow of your peers and compromise everything you were taught growing up for an easier route. One thing is certain - very few of us did a thorough job effectively communicating the importance of things like respect, decency and hard work to our offspring. We see that every single day.

      The second way - life experience... being subjected to a crisis that changes your entire outlook on things. Maybe it is a cancer diagnosis. Maybe it's a wife or husband who one evening sits down at the dinner table with you and says, "I'm not happy, I no longer wish to spend the rest of my life with you, I want a divorce." Or maybe the loss of a child. Or maybe the loss of a job that you've held for 25 years. Whatever it is - it impacts everything you knew to be true and real...

      Again, I don't hold this current generation entirely accountable. A majority of the time, the attitudes of kids today are a direct reflection of the attitudes of those who raised them.

      So until we are threatened with a likelihood of extinction or some other type of life-changing matter, we shouldn't expect much to change.

      Throw in todays societal political differences and the fact that too many people are eager to place blame on others rather than themselves for their own shortcomings in life - we are where we are. To expect anything different would be absurd.

          PA-PLAYA More or less, impatience and just overall decency. Where I come from - you hold the door open for ladies and elders, and you would never ever utter foul language in front of them. These days? Forget it.

          I still do that and I hope I am setting an example for my grandkids. My kids already have good manners. That's the extent of what I have to offer, other than complaining about the eventual disappearance of common decency.

            LBlack14 Political correctness.

            My favorite oxymoron.

            Thread is waxing philosophical I must say way above me but too too true
            My wife's young cousin Brad Pullium died last week at age 41 with colon cancer after fighting for almost 3 years. Never once complained and worked in his forestry job until last few weeks when his liver finally gave up. Always up beat ... he was amazing even on his death bed nicest guy to the end. Little rural church holds maybe 120, over 1000 (900+ signed his visitation book) came to the wake and funeral most waiting out side for his interment
            Some couldn't find place to park in two acres + parking area and some left after standing in line almost 2 hours not able to get in for his wake. Renewed my hope for the world some what setting new prospective for me

              PA-PLAYA or actually make eye-contact with people

              I think this might be caused by the computer and the smart phone in modern life. The way our kids communicate is almost like introvert back in our time. They don't look at you in your eyes when they talk to you. They prefer to communicate through the gateway of social media instead of personal touch. I wonder what it would be like in another 50 years. People will be wearing a pair of vision goggles over their face and have everything done for them, driving, cooking, working........

                Release Thanks for nice sentiments
                Brad's parents and supporting family and community must have done something right by him, too , I believe.
                His surviving 2 brothers are stand up guys too, btw.
                There's still lots of really great folks left, some are young ones,
                I meet them all the time, a lot of them hooked on golf too,
                Bless their hearts, forgive us , we're mostly harmless.

                  Been married for 34 years and still open the door (both car and building) for my wife. I hold doors for strangers out of politeness from my upbringing.
                  As for drivers, please turn your headlights on when its raining.

                    Umfaan I hold doors for strangers out of politeness from my upbringing.

                    Yes I do the same all the time but it ticks me off when they just walked right in without as much a gesture of thanks.
                    A simple nodding of head will do.

                      sdandrea1 You can't fix stupid.

                      But you can teach them when they are young. I think a lot of things our younger folks do that I consider stupid are a result of them not being taught certain things when they are young. I guess too many parents think that their kids are going to learn stuff on their own. Kids today are not taught the common courtesies we were taught. They have no idea what proper "manners" are.

                          Rickochet

                          A study done recently which contradicts the believe to free range the kids until they are 5 or 6 then put them on the track. The new study showed to guide the youngsters starting from 2-3 years old.
                          I know my wife talked to the kids when they were 5-6 months old inside of her ( when their hearing nerve developed ). I had never seen a woman so dedicated to caring since she got pregnant. Even changed her diet for the sake of the fetus.
                          We figured if we don't pay attention to the development of our kids then we or the society will pay more down the road. A little effort along the way is better than unpleasant surprise in the future. Kind of hard to do with both the parents working, and we had made decisions to bring up the kids correctly instead of leaving more numbers in the bank for them. Money will run out or lost it's value, what we put into the kids will stay with them their whole life.
                          It's funny, sometimes to say the right thing at the right moment would have more impact then daily tutoring.

                            There's no substitute for a proper raising and no accounting for a poor one. My wife's grandmother's quote.

                            It's the Pussification of society. I have NEVER worked with a more stupid group of people than what we have right now.

                            It's amazing...they either CAN'T think for themselves or they REFUSE to think for themselves because they know someone else ( me) will have to do it for them.

                            I used to never dread getting up for work...now I do.
                            I used to never dread seeing their names on my caller id...now I do.

                            And it's all " the blame game" now. They are more concerned with who to blame on an issue than fixing it and moving on.

                            Gotta throw "lazy" in there too.

                              Typhoon

                              Sorry man. I can tell you, though, your current pain will make retirement all that much better.

                                Typhoon It's amazing...they either CAN'T think for themselves or they REFUSE to think for themselves because they know someone else ( me) will have to do it for them.

                                Believe me, no one is that stupid. They're actually street smart to avoid pulling their own weight, lack of initiative....
                                Document, document, document...... so when it blows open you will have supporting evidence for what happened.
                                And if you are the "supervisor" It's part of your job to bear the burden of making decisions.
                                Do what's right, it'll pay up in life.

                                    Release
                                    What I hate is I have a sales job. They have now added the burden of supervising these morons. so now we never get to the sales part if our jobs. And guess what is down this year...to u guessed it!

                                    Oh and they are NOT street smart...They are dummies. I'd u ever saw what they so day to day u would scratch your head in disbelief.