Wednesday, April 25, 2012

MILLENNIAL CHILDREN AND OTHER CRETANS

I was visiting Linda's Lou's blog (Linda Lou Live from Las Vegas) and she had a very interesting post which you should all check out.  Same sort of topic I did a while back ... basically a rant about what she calls "the pussy nation" (gotta love her) ... children born after 1980, also referred to as "millennial children."  You know, the ones that were pampered every freaking day of their lives and now walk into the workplace demanding free time, work/life balance, big bucks and the ability to work from home in their pajamas.  The problem with this is that they are working for baby boomer bosses whose work ethic and background is radically different.  I, being a baby boomer, understand this all too well.  Unfortunately, my experience in the last 10 years has been a little different because I've had to work for these millennial brats who never learned any manners, courtesy, patience or respect for their elders and think only of themselves.  Quite a conundrum if you're a 53 year old secretary and your boss is a 28 year old with malignant narcissism and anger management issues.  These are the kids whose parents pampered, hovered, protected and always rescued them thereby producing a generation of super, coddled spawn who have never learned how to deal with the realities of life because "it's hard out there. 


When I grew up my mom and dad didn't take any lip.  Neither did teachers.  It was a different world and those in authority demanded respect.  Teachers expected you to shut up and listen or you would get humiliated in class or worse, get a swat.  AND NO ONE SUED THEM.  My 8th grade science teacher Mr. Shiyota (who I hated) once swatted a kid in class and I mention it only because I'd seen kids get swats in class but this swat was particularly sadistic.  Granted, the kid was a little gang banging pee-wee and he should have just been sent to the principal or thrown out of class but Mr. Shiyota called him up to the front of the class and in front of everyone took a wooden paddle with holes in it and swung that mother like a baseball bat right on his behind.  It made ME want to cry.  He seriously could have cracked his tailbone but that's how it was back then.  I do not want to minimize the seriousness of receiving a swat.  It was done often enough but only if you were really, really a pain in the ass.  What teachers got away with with in the 1970's is unheard of today.  We baby boomers grew up in a COMPLETELY DIFFERENT WORLD.  There were boundaries and you knew not to cross them.  

If you're wondering why we didn't tell our parents the teacher swatted us or yelled at us it is because THE TEACHER WAS GOD.  AUTHORITY.  YOU DID NOT QUESTION AUTHORITY.  In my day you'd get in more trouble at home for getting in trouble at school.  There were two things kids did not want to deal with in the 1960's-1970's ... FEAR and SHAME.  Fear of getting in trouble at school and shame at embarrassing your parents. This is why teachers were able to instill corporeal punishment and this was normal back then.  Parents literally gave teachers permission to discipline their kids, even physically if necessary.  Then the 1980's rolled around and it all changed.  Society became very child oriented which for those of us born in the "children should be seen and not heard" generation, it was a tad hard to swallow.  

Also in her post, Linda referenced a book called "So The Trophy Kids Grow Up" by Ron Alsop.  So I got onto Amazon and started reading an excerpt which was very enlightening.  I spent the next hour reading excerpts of other books on the same subject and inevitably another character flaw related to being a millennial child is narcissism.   Just look at Facebook, nothing but titty shots and ME, ME, ME.  It makes me ill.  Facebook is merely paparazzi for regular people and yeah I'm on Facebook too but I don't take shots of my cleavage while I lick my girlfriend's face and make gang signs.  Those born after 1980 are addicted to this shit.  When I was in school the worst thing in the world you could be called was conceited.  Today, it's an aspiration.  

There's a thin line between self-confidence and narcissism and these little twits don't know the difference.  It is mind boggling to me how self-absorbed this generation is.  They're constantly texting and taking pictures of themselves.  I wonder if any of these  little morons have ever read a book?  Just for fun, ask a 26 year old who the vice-president is ... you'll probably get a blank stare or an incredibly stupid answer like "Arnold Schwarzenegger?"  


To this day I know all my multiplication tables by heart.  Not a big deal I know but if you were born after 1980 those kids can't figure anything out without a calculator or Google.  To us that was akin to cheating.  I still know all the capitals of every state and every country.  This came from rote memorization which of course we all hated, but you NEVER forget it.  Ask a twenty-something kid what the capital of California is and I bet you a million bucks they don't know.


It is so sad this dumbing down of America by this coddled, spoiled generation.  God only knows what will happen to these selfish little babies when their parents die.  Tragic.  I feel disgusted with all of it ... *sigh*.  

Sadder still is the realization that I have now become the mean lady on the block *double sigh* ...



Signed,
Cranky old bitch.   
 
 





Friday, April 20, 2012

R.I.P. DICK CLARK

When I was little my mom would watch Bandstand every day.  By the time I grew up it aired on Saturday mornings.  It became especially fun in the 1970's because my cousin Arnie was a regular on bandstand.  Check him out in this clip ... he's the cute guy with the white bell bottoms, light blue t-shirt and navy sweater tied around his neck, no glasses.  It may be a little confusing to spot him because at least four other guys are wearing the exact same outfit!


Looking back at this clip cracks me up because it all seems so dorky now but at the time these kids were the coolest of the cool.  If you notice, some of the girls are wearing pants under their dresses ... this was an L.A. trend.

R.I.P. Dick Clark, and thanks for the memories ...

Sunday, April 8, 2012

WASTED DAYS AND WASTED NIGHTS ...

So I'm sitting on the couch with the TV set to QVC, Trixie is sleeping by my side and I'm playing on the internet Googling random crap like "WEHT Susan Anton?" And intermittently writing stuff for the blog and my book, which is a work in progress and I hope gets published and then optioned into a movie which then wins the Academy Award and I can retire and just write for the rest of my life and never, EVER get laid off again. 

At some point I must take a shower (it's 11:33 am) and get my ass to Cost Co. because I need paper plates and Comet and I know that I am not going to do any of this because deep down inside, I don't want to. So I jump onto Pinterest and start perusing photographs and "words of wisdom". After an hour of this I decide I better move or I'll be sitting on the couch for another hour, so I quickly jump onto Facebook and Hollye makes mention she's going to see Todd Rundgren that night and has a You Tube video of him singing "Can We Still Be Friends" so of course I have to watch it because I LOVE TODD RUNDGREN and then I'm on You Tube for another hour listening to every song he ever did and mentally going back to 1974 where I remain for another hour and a half.  


If I had a dime for every minute I've wasted perusing non-productive pleasures I'd be a billionaire. 

IT'S OSCAR NIGHT!!!

  Hollywood's big night has arrived!  I've seen a few of the nominated movies.  Barbie - don't know why it was nominated; Americ...