How to classify today's kids..?

AggieMike88 said:
You're one of the few exceptions. ;)
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Some of us managed to grow up unscathed even though we had Jarts, slatted cribs, rode unrestrained in the back of a station wagon, ate candy, didn't wear bike helmets, played pick-up sports without protective gear (or being wrapped in bubble wrap), used firecrackers and bottle rockets, climbed trees, played with very small supermagnets, dropped sodium in water, boarded commercial planes without security checks, had sharp scissors in school, etc, etc, etc.

If we managed to grow up without nanny, this generation will survive in spite of nanny.
 
wsuffa said:
Some of us managed to grow up unscathed even though we had Jarts, slatted cribs, rode unrestrained in the back of a station wagon, ate candy, didn't wear bike helmets, played pick-up sports without protective gear (or being wrapped in bubble wrap), used firecrackers and bottle rockets, climbed trees, played with very small supermagnets, dropped sodium in water, boarded commercial planes without security checks, had sharp scissors in school, etc, etc, etc.

If we managed to grow up without nanny, this generation will survive in spite of nanny.
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We even used to play with the liquid mercury from broken thermometers. (gasp, maybe that explains a few things).
 
AggieMike88 said:
Or Gen needs-a-calculator-to-figure-change-on-a-$122.54-transaction-after-you-hand-them-seven-twenty-dollar-bills
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This one kills me. I handed a guy a $20 for something that was $15.whatever. He pushed the "$20" button and the drawer pops open. I then say "Let me make it eaiser on you" and hand him a $1. He just stairs at me, looks at the register, then again at me. I had to explain it to him...:mad2:
 
JOhnH said:
We even used to play with the liquid mercury from broken thermometers. (gasp, maybe that explains a few things).
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It made really shiny nickels.

I think I remember riding on the tailgate of my friends dad's station wagon as we roared through town flinging newspapers on porches at o'dark thirty.

At least by the time I reached high school, helmets had face masks. Otherwise my Government issued picture ID would cause some heart failures at the TSA Desk instead of just second looks.

Cheers
 
Generation L-cubed.
Lazy, Large, Link-needy

The people I rent from have a 9 y/o. He goes outside to hop on the bus, maybe ride a bike for a bit, and has never stepped foot into the woods in the back yard. When he acts up, my internet connection drops.:rolleyes: Then Mt. Saint Helens erupts.

When I used to drive a school bus, I noticed most kids sat in a heated/air conditioned car until the bus pulled up (as opposed to being outside at the bus stop, waiting for the bus). Some of them asked me to turn on the air conditioning (none in our busses) or heat (already on). Bunch of ninny's.

David has a point, I suppose. My generation was probably screwed up in the eyes of the ones before me, but as others have said, take electricity away for a little bit and most of them have no idea what to do with themselves.
 
JOhnH said:
We even used to play with the liquid mercury from broken thermometers. (gasp, maybe that explains a few things).
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Since I'm apart of this "Gen" I can enlighten the public on somethings. :rofl:

In my high school chemistry class we were never allowed to use the Bunsen burners or use any type of dangerous chemicals. The reason was some parents had threatened to sue the district if their children used any dangerous items.

I can live without Internet,phone, and tv. After growing up in the Boy Scouts and living in the country I found how to entertain myself. We have a creek behind our house I use to play in and get hurt in. I have flown off of bikes, wagons, trailers and scooters. Never thought anything about it. It may of hurt but I kept going.
 
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DavidWhite said:
Don't know why everyone is beating up on my generation. I'm sure some of you weren't perfect kids.

We will be fine.
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:rofl::rofl::rofl::rofl: You have a gift for understatement there David.:lol:;)

Seriously, it's not the kids that are going wrong, it's the parents and society in general. It's all the fear and worry, much of it brought about by media bombardment of only bad things presented in the most upsetting emotional way possible. The kids are alright, the parents are who are typically retarded. Most of the kids don't have a chance because they have crappy parents.
 
Bob Noel said:
or Gen huh?

or Gen you-want-fries-with-that?
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That's not even going so well. Tonight after I had some volunteer work run late, and after our crazy day, I picked up Karen and we headed for McDriveThru.

The order was sitting at the window when we got up there. No problem. But the two girls running the drive-thru looked shell shocked. Literally as if they had no idea what they were supposed to do next.

Now I remember working fast food and being mildly confused at times by weird orders or stuff going wrong, but this was a disaster area. There were two mops propped up against the counter, and the girl who took our money then started with, "Here's number one..."

Handed us one of the iced teas. Ok.

Then she handed us the bag of food. Now hang on a sec, if you're already handing drinks over and you're counting out loud to "two", you're already behind the game. Might as well finish counting and hand out the second drink.

Nope. Now after one drink and a bag, she didn't say the usual "thank you" or anything, she just stared at us.

I smiled, "Is there another iced tea there on our order?" (Since I could see it sitting there...)

"Oh! Yes, here you go."

(By now Karen is digging in the bag checking it. She can tell this is all messed up. As the girl went for the second drink she tells me something is missing. I also knew Karen had asked for a chocolate shake -- comfort food after our rough day -- so I added that next...)

"Is there also a chocolate shake there?"

The girl looks confused, looks up at the video monitor, and realizes its on the order and sitting right there already made by the other girl, and hands it to us.

"Sorry to ask, but was there also an Apple Pie on the order?"

She looks, sees there was, and walks across the store to get it. Throughout all of this, the other girl made that shake and then just stood there staring at us and glancing at the monitor. I suspect the timer was flashing saying they had taken too long.

Girl comes back, I say thanks and we're off... both of us remarking that things did not appear to be going well for our two young friends.

Thank goodness I handed her the check card or we might still be there figuring out change for a $20. ;)
 
Henning's got this right. Kids have a remarkable ability to step up to meet the demands placed on them. A child who's pushed can far outdo the average adult in nearly any endeavor. Pushing them too hard can be unhealthy, but not pushing them enough leads to chaos...

Labelling kids is misleading. Gen X? Gen Y? Those are useless labels. Literally, they are made up nonsense. And they aren't labels for the kids, they are labels of the zeitgeist they grow up in. That is more a reflection of the adults than it is the kids. But those adults (i.e. us) are too lazy or self important to accept the blame. How many kids do you know with problems that can't be traced back to the adults in their life?

fat parents tent to have fat kids.
driven parents tend to have driven kids.
lazy parents ten to have lazy kids.
educated parents tend to have educated kids.
loser parents tend to have loser kids.
etc...

There are lots of exceptions, but they are exceptions. More often than not, children follow the path that is set for them.

10,000 years of human civilizations and now, miraculously, kids suddenly mutate into out of control monsters? Really? No. Occams razor on this one. You let your kids be little devils (to be polite about it) and they will become little devils.
 
denverpilot said:
Thank goodness I handed her the check card or we might still be there figuring out change for a $20. ;)
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Funny you should say that. I stopped at a market on the way home yesterday that happens to serve a fairly large sized hispanic population and has about 1/4 of the store with ethnic foods. Perfect since I had Fajitas planned for dinner and needed the fixin's.

Ended up with a younger check-out guy who's been there a while (seen him before). He couldn't tell the difference between "green bell pepper" and "poblano" and "jalepeno". He rang up the Anaheim chili as "long green pepper". I had to tell him what the poblano and jalepeno were before he rang 'em up as bell peppers. One would think that (especially for that store) he would know (or know to ask) what the differences were.... One would think that Jalepeno would be obvious compared to a Green Bell.
 
One of the advantages of getting old and cranky is that I can tell that this generation is just as clueless and selfish as the previous three were at the same age. They have the opportunity to greatness just as we did and the opportunity to fail as well. I prefer to define them as beautiful, adorable, precocious, smart, happy, vigorous and enviable.

Jus' sayin'
 
wsuffa said:
Some of us managed to grow up unscathed even though we had Jarts, slatted cribs, rode unrestrained in the back of a station wagon, ate candy, didn't wear bike helmets, played pick-up sports without protective gear (or being wrapped in bubble wrap), used firecrackers and bottle rockets, climbed trees, played with very small supermagnets, dropped sodium in water, boarded commercial planes without security checks, had sharp scissors in school, etc, etc, etc.

If we managed to grow up without nanny, this generation will survive in spite of nanny.
Click to expand...
Back in high school, I rode back and forth to school, some 25 miles, in a Willys pickup with rusted out floorboards and 3 underclassmen in the bed. And we did this in the middle of January.
Nowadays, the truck wouldn't pass inspection, the driver would be ticketed for the kids in the back (not to mention speeding), and they'd all be left traveling an hour or more on a big yellow schoolbus.
 
silver-eagle said:
Back in high school, I rode back and forth to school, some 25 miles, in a Willys pickup with rusted out floorboards and 3 underclassmen in the bed. And we did this in the middle of January.
Nowadays, the truck wouldn't pass inspection, the driver would be ticketed for the kids in the back (not to mention speeding), and they'd all be left traveling an hour or more on a big yellow schoolbus.
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uphill both ways?
 
One of our more favorite spare time activities was hunting rats in the storm sewers with BB Guns. I don't think that would be an approved activity these days. Come to think of it are there still BB Guns or did they get banned?:confused:

BTW, unfortunately I believe the no Bunsen Burners in Chemistry Class story.

Cheers
 
AuntPeggy said:
One of the advantages of getting old and cranky is that I can tell that this generation is just as clueless and selfish as the previous three were at the same age. They have the opportunity to greatness just as we did and the opportunity to fail as well.
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Exactly. And the stuffy old generation always thinks the newcomers are lacking.
 
JOhnH said:
That is sort of like:

If a man says something,
and there is no woman around to hear him,
Is he still wrong?
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Yes, at least according to all the women in my family. :D

Cheers
 
\__[Ô]__/;961893 said:
uphill both ways?
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I walked uphill both ways to get to/from high school. In the snow when it snowed. My kids thought I was full of it until they went to college on that hill and saw that I walked uphill to start the trip over the hill and then downhill to finish it. They've learned, Dad isn't quite as full of it as they throught growing up. :D
 
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