The reason for starting this blog was to point out the good in the young people growing up in this world where earthquakes, nuclear meltdowns, and potential world wars are a real threat. I hate thinking the worst of people, so today’s column is hard for me. It’s an off week where I live, so the only young people I’ve seen have been on vacation at Universal Studios Orlando. And that’s not always the best place to see the best of people. Most of us don’t like standing in line.
We were standing in one particular line Friday when a couple of young men plowed through without asking for forgiveness or excuse. Then the line comes to a standstill in a dark tunnel where it zigzags to a lower level. I thought the boys had already plowed through to the front when I heard them call up to a girl standing a few spots behind me.
“Come on down,” one kid called to his sister. She refused. I think she was beginning to feel guilty for cutting through the line, but her brother continued to egg her on. That’s when the teacher in me couldn’t hold back.
“The thing is,” I said, “it’s not fair and I won’t let her through.”
The boy exploded. He couldn’t understand why I wouldn’t let his sister through. Geez, why can't I keep my mouth shut! I thought about explaining that they need to ask or at least they should wait like the rest of us, but then something I didn’t expect happened. A woman standing between me and the girl refused to let her through – not just verbally, she grabbed her as the girl threaded through the crowd then jumped over the wall between us and the boys. The woman tried to jump over, too, and, of course, the boy saw her actions as a threat to his sister.
We almost had a brawl in the tunnel for a water ride in Orlando. All because I tried to teach some kids some manners. I felt ashamed. That's not the time, the place, nor my job.
The thing is, these are the young people most adults see, the ones who think only about themselves, who were never taught the power behind words such as Please, Thank You, and I’m Sorry, kids who walk down the middle of a parking lot oblivious to the cars piling up behind them, kids who proudly flick off the action camera on the ride people have waited an hour to ride in order to purchase a too-expensive 5 x 7 picture they will never be able to show their families.
I still believe there is good in these young people, but every now and then my faith is shaken. Then I remember the adults I met that day. In addition to the woman willing to lay her hands on the sister in the tunnel, the day started with the tourist in the parking lot. He refused to recognize that there were two lines so he rolled along slowly with the traffic in the bumper-to-bumper line next to our clear one. When we flashed our lights to politely tell him to move along, he flicked us off. Then, when we parked two spots from each other, he jumped out of his car and began to berate my husband with language usually reserved for bar fights.
Seriously, dude. Orlando is supposed to be the happiest place in the world. Well, since we weren’t at Disney, I guess he didn’t feel obligated. And the kids in his car? They'll probably end up as angry and rude as he is. Or maybe they'll grow up ashamed to call him Dad.
I guess the truth is that it’s not the youth of America that’s in trouble. It's always been like this. There have always been rude people who take advantage of their place in line. Kids soak it all up. They learn to act the way they do somewhere, but the parents aren’t willing to admit when we mess up.
What do you think? Let me know by posting your comment below.
From former student Allison Perez via Facebook:
ReplyDeleteUgh this seriously made me mad. I can't stand people like this, especially when they do these things to people who never deserved it like you and your husband. But the truth is that there's always going to be bad people in any age group, race, gender, etc. Some of these bad kids could have been raised by bad parents or some of them could have been raised by great parents and they still ended up that way. I can't tell you how many kids I've seen treat their parents like garbage when all they did was care for them and show how much they love their rotten child. It's depressing. This is probably coming from the future psychologist in me but these bad qualities could come from certain chemicals in their brain or something. Or they most likely came from the bad influences or environments the kids never let their parents know about. Point is, I think it would be unfair to put 100% of the blame on the parents.
Me now: Not 100 percent, but I think a huge part. Yes, environment plays a big part, but somewhere between birth and the time environment takes control, the parents had some kind of say in the matter. When they drop the ball, sometimes they lose control. Sometimes, though, the kid survives despite family and environment. That's when SELF wins!
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