Get off my LAWN! "Grumpy Old Farts"

[GwenOnBass]

Right. The picture of male adolescence remains the same despite greater clarity and definition.

 

[beans-on-toast]

Kids are too sheltered and pampered today.

How are you supposed to learn common sense and street life if you haven’t lived it.

 

[notJaco]

Kids are too sheltered and pampered today.

How are you supposed to learn common sense and street life if you haven’t lived it.

Bullying is alive and well. So is Child suicide.

 

[GwenOnBass]

Making life maximally difficult could be a choice for people who want to experience that. Ain't down with doing that for everybody too many are harmed to no good end IMO

What is okey-dokey to-day is the growers' market. Perhaps there will be fresh mushrooms. A cluster of oyster mushrooms with ... I'm kind of fond of lamb, myself ... More important is a roadmap to breakfast because I could do with a sit-down. There are be sweet and savoury crêpes made to order at the market. But it's not really a bright sunny morning for maximal enjoyment.

First thing I see in Odin's this morning is a spider web in the clover, heavy with raindrops. So that kind of day.

Bullying is alive and well. So is Child suicide.

And particularly vulnerable children are at significantly greater risk of harm, and self-harm, owing to flames being fanned by the usual suspects.

 

[Charlie Tango]

Right. The picture of male adolescence remains the same despite greater clarity and definition.

Get a bunch of 18-year-olds in an Army barracks and watch the stupidity multiply.

 

[GwenOnBass]

Get a bunch of 18-year-olds in an Army barracks and watch the stupidity multiply.

Can only speak for myself ... when the estrogen tap opens it's completely understandable on some level to find myself sitting on the kerb outside some boy's house without a clear idea why.*



* other things happen too

 

[mikeoso]

Sounds like a barracks bet.

True

 

[mikeoso]

Was there alcohol (drinking type) involved?

Nope, just juvenile silliness plus military craziness. The joke among us was, the difference between the Boy Scouts and the Marines is that Scouts have adult supervision

 

[Deleted member 268085]

Get a bunch of 18-year-olds in an Army barracks and watch the stupidity multiply.

18 year-old newgs were nothing compared to the company of Green Berets the Army brought back early from 'Nam and barracked at Fort Devens where I was attending a spook school. The Army wouldn't give them early-outs, so they just hung around, destroying stuff. Like throwing all of the mattresses out in the parade ground (160 acres; that will be important in a minute) and creating a bonfire with them. Not being enough for the Army who-ha's charged with managing those guys, they decided one final round of jump training was needed. Those guys had the entire parade ground to land in. Easy peasy, right? We were sitting in the barracks watching. Not one, not one of them landed in the parade ground. Anywhere but. We had one guy slam into the side of our building, and slide to the ground. That was the hardest I laughed during my entire 2 years, 2 months and 22 days of active duty.

 

[beans-on-toast]

Bullying is alive and well. So is Child suicide.

Kids are under a different type of pressure today. There’s a different set of rules. Parents all have lawyers.

I was taught to clench your fist as hard as you can and drive it into their nose at a 45 degree upward angle. Learning to box didn’t hurt. Street fights were not uncommon. Bullying wasn’t a problem, they were dealt with quickly.

When I worked in a school, parents would show up in the deans office with their lawyers after any test demanding that results of certain difficult questions were cancelled, anything that was not taught shouldn’t be tested (you couldn’t expect students to think, to extrapolate and apply knowledge to another situation), and that the class would not be graded on a curve. I got out when that stupidity started happening.

 

[Al Kraft]

All I can say is that I feel like a stranger in the world around me these days. The only thing that has a slightly familiar feel for me anymore is R&D work with senior folks and three letter agency activities, and even those workforces are becoming much different than years back.

Odd as it sounds I just feel ill-prepared to live in the world I find myself in these days. It's probably more accurate to say that I frequently feel uneasy or unsettled. To be clear though, there's no sour grapes story or tale of woe here. I am well off, relatively healthy, and work by choice not necessity.

Perhaps it's that what I do professionally has me continually focused on problems/threats and when viewed through that lens no one should probably sleep well at night. Our younger generation lives in a virtual echo chamber (manipulated by people with agendas) and they have no idea what that even means. It's no wonder that the world is becoming more polarized and people more galvanized in whatever their echo chamber ecosystem is steering them towards.

 

[mikeoso]

All I can say is that I feel like a stranger in the world around me these days. The only thing that has a slightly familiar feel for me anymore is R&D work with senior folks and three letter agency activities, and even those workforces are becoming much different than years back.

Odd as it sounds I just feel ill-prepared to live in the world I find myself in these days. It's probably more accurate to say that I frequently feel uneasy or unsettled. To be clear though, there's no sour grapes story or tale of woe here. I am well off, relatively healthy, and work by choice not necessity.

Perhaps it's that what do professionally has me continually focused on problems/threats and when viewed through that lens no one should probably sleep well at night. Our younger generation lives in a virtual echo chamber (manipulated by people with agendas) and they have no idea what that even means. It's no wonder that the world is becoming more polarized and people more galvanized in whatever their echo chamber ecosystem is steering them towards.

"And I don't know a soul who's not been battered
I don't have a friend who feels at ease
I don't know a dream that's not been shattered
Or driven to its knees
But it's alright, it's alright
For we lived so well so long
Still, when I think of the
Road we're traveling on
I wonder what's gone wrong
I can't help it, I wonder what has gone wrong"

Paul Simon, American Tune 1972

 

[SoulReflection]

All I can say is that I feel like a stranger in the world around me these days. The only thing that has a slightly familiar feel for me anymore is R&D work with senior folks and three letter agency activities, and even those workforces are becoming much different than years back.

Odd as it sounds I just feel ill-prepared to live in the world I find myself in these days. It's probably more accurate to say that I frequently feel uneasy or unsettled. To be clear though, there's no sour grapes story or tale of woe here. I am well off, relatively healthy, and work by choice not necessity.

Perhaps it's that what do professionally has me continually focused on problems/threats and when viewed through that lens no one should probably sleep well at night. Our younger generation lives in a virtual echo chamber (manipulated by people with agendas) and they have no idea what that even means. It's no wonder that the world is becoming more polarized and people more galvanized in whatever their echo chamber ecosystem is steering them towards.

Too bad we can't abolish echo chambers and get back to neutral news...

 

[mikeoso]

18 year-old newgs were nothing compared to the company of Green Berets the Army brought back early from 'Nam and barracked at Fort Devens where I was attending a spook school. The Army wouldn't give them early-outs, so they just hung around, destroying stuff. Like throwing all of the mattresses out in the parade ground (160 acres; that will be important in a minute) and creating a bonfire with them. Not being enough for the Army who-ha's charged with managing those guys, they decided one final round of jump training was needed. Those guys had the entire parade ground to land in. Easy peasy, right? We were sitting in the barracks watching. Not one, not one of them landed in the parade ground. Anywhere but. We had one guy slam into the side of our building, and slide to the ground. That was the hardest I laughed during my entire 2 years, 2 months and 22 days of active duty.

View attachment 4299823

When I was in Casual Company at MCRD San Diego, waiting for my discharge, our game was diving out the second deck window into a dumpster full of chow hall cardboard.

 

[Al Kraft]

"And I don't know a soul who's not been battered
I don't have a friend who feels at ease
I don't know a dream that's not been shattered
Or driven to its knees
But it's alright, it's alright
For we lived so well so long
Still, when I think of the
Road we're traveling on
I wonder what's gone wrong
I can't help it, I wonder what has gone wrong"

Paul Simon, American Tune 1972

I suspect every generation has similar thoughts as they move into the later years of life, and the 1972 date above sort of confirms that my thoughts in 2021 probably don't represent an aberrant data point.

 

[Black Out Jazz]

I am a 59 yr old father of a 15 yr old youngster. I believe what the parents teach is what their kids will become. My kid is not a victim, despite the public school indoctrination trying to make him so. He will probably, with my blessing, join the US Navy if he doesn't get a baseball scholarship to a D1 or D2. He has had some issues with teachers at the (old) high school(moving him to a city school system with much higher marks than the county school), because I have taught him to challenge the garbage these recent college grad (HA) "teachers" try to force feed the students. I'm not worried about this guy. He will make his way successfully. Many-most?- of his classmates have been raised believing they are entitled victims. They will suck at life.

 

[Al Kraft]

I am a 59 yr old father of a 15 yr old youngster. I believe what the parents teach is what their kids will become. My kid is not a victim, despite the public school indoctrination trying to make him so. He will probably, with my blessing, join the US Navy if he doesn't get a baseball scholarship to a D1 or D2. He has had some issues with teachers at the (old) high school(moving him to a city school system with much higher marks than the county school), because I have taught him to challenge the liberal garbage these recent college grad (HA) "teachers" try to force feed the students. I'm not worried about this guy. He will make his way successfully. Many-most?- of his classmates have been raised believing they are entitled victims. They will suck at life.

I think you characterized it very well. A generation of people who see themselves as entitled and victims doesn't bode well when the challenges of the world are becoming more urgent and much more complex. Thankfully there are still some folks like you who are raising our next generation of leaders with an understanding and appreciation that hard work is how you earn success.

 

[beans-on-toast]

All I can say is that I feel like a stranger in the world around me these days. The only thing that has a slightly familiar feel for me anymore is R&D work with senior folks and three letter agency activities, and even those workforces are becoming much different than years back.

Odd as it sounds I just feel ill-prepared to live in the world I find myself in these days. It's probably more accurate to say that I frequently feel uneasy or unsettled. To be clear though, there's no sour grapes story or tale of woe here. I am well off, relatively healthy, and work by choice not necessity.

Perhaps it's that what do professionally has me continually focused on problems/threats and when viewed through that lens no one should probably sleep well at night. Our younger generation lives in a virtual echo chamber (manipulated by people with agendas) and they have no idea what that even means. It's no wonder that the world is becoming more polarized and people more galvanized in whatever their echo chamber ecosystem is steering them towards.

You echo my thoughts. Technology has order and makes sense, the world that uses it doesn’t.

People used to turn to cloistered religious orders. Others would go on retreats for peace and structure that they have lost in their life. The older generation always feels left behind. My Hasidic neighbours share conservative family values of life in the 1940’s and earlier. Their sense of community, food, and celebrations, give people a feeling of home that many in the world have lost.

 

[Al Kraft]

You echo my thoughts. Technology has order and makes sense, the world that uses it doesn’t.

People used to turn to cloistered religious orders. Others would go on retreats for peace and structure that they have lost in their life. The older generation always feels left behind. My Hasidic neighbours share conservative family values of life in the 1940’s and earlier. Their sense of community, food, and celebrations, give people a feeling of home that many in the world have lost.

...and there is the dilemma that so many face. Is it better to create a world around you rooted in culture and tradition and ignore the insanity outside those boundaries, embrace the world as it is and try to make it better, or live some hybrid version where you pick and choose.

I suspect many folks shoot for the latter option. However, that creates the struggle to reconcile how to successfully engage/participate in the world at large without losing what they feel grounds them when it's no longer consistent with contemporary/progressive thinking. I think churches and religions were meant to offer that life anchor and I believe that model works as long as life's boundaries have clear edges that feel consistent with one's core values. Successfully navigating conflicting agendas and moving targets requires honest self awareness of one's values and what is at stake with every choice made or not made.

I think it's hard to find a reliable, trustworthy, life center point in a world where human doings are valued far more than human beings. Perhaps simply continuing to ask the question and search for the answer creates the balance and prevents you from falling towards the extremes. That would seem consistent with the thought that truly enjoying life/a life well lived is more about enjoying the journey than perseverating on the destination.

 

[beans-on-toast]

Turnip or rutabaga?

I bought what I call a turnip at the market today. One of these yellow things, they are yellow inside. All my life, I’ve called them turnips. Seems that it’s actually a rutabaga or a yellow turnip. Not to be confused with what some call a turnip, see lower image.

Rutabaga

Turnip, what I always called baby turnip are white, not yellow inside. The girl at the cash didn’t know if it was a turnip or a rutabaga. Turns out that turnips cost more. I voted for turnip and payed for turnip rather than rutabaga.

Next time I’ll know better.