You see them everywhere. Goofy haired louts with their ball-caps on sideways or backwards and their pants sliding off the ass. They're skateboarding down the road at seventeen years of age tweeting their twitter flock about the new trick they can do on their board while blowing out their eardrums with hiphop shit that isn't fit to stream into your barn. You just want to give them a kick in the pants.
This ain't Henry Felsen's generation. Hell, it ain't even Roger Daltry's generation.
They're loud and rude and really stupid.
And you know what?
They're doing the best they can.
Felsen's generation was driving cars because they could afford to drive cars. Kids today don't drive skateboards and bicycles because they are hard-core environmentalists. They drive skateboards and bicycles because they can't afford stuff with motors.
It's the insurance.
It's the fact that minimum wage doesn't take you as far as it used to.
They're not stupid; they're adapting to their environment.
And they didn't create their environment.
We did.
The elders. The ones who now call them stupid goofs and tell them to get a job and a life and pull that ball cap around for God's sake.
Where are those jobs we want them to get?
And what kind of life do we expect them to find on that minimum wage from Walmart or McDonalds?
They're addicted to their cellphones because that is one of the few status markers that they can afford on a minimum wage.
So the next time you're tempted to make a judgement about a bunch of loud goofs playing with their skateboards, remember what they're up against.
Take a moment to feel some empathy. They're not stupid. They're doing the best they can.
Then give them a kick in the pants!
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