Damn Kids These Days
Okay, a few weeks ago I was walking to work (as is part of my usual daily routine). The snow banks around the sidewalks were relatively high, so there was little room to have more than two people walk side by side down it. Now, on this particular day I had little to no problems getting around this (ie, I came across few other walkers that day). Pretty close to work, I see these 2 kids (I would say they were no older than like 12, but they were probably closer to 8 - either way, they were pretty little). The thing that caught me about these kids was that they looked so much like Eminem! Assuming, of course, that Eminem is about 4 feet tall and tries way too hard to look like Eminem. Actually, I thought little of this, as most kids look like that nowadays. Sad really… oh well, that‘s not the point here. They are walking in the direction towards me, so I tries to go around them (as I’m the polite type). The one on the left (a particular badass) looks right up at me, about 4 feet from me, leans to his friend and says to him, “Look at this one,” nodding at me. I’m used to this, so again, I do nothing. Okay, now this is where is goes that one extra step that gets to the heart of this rant. The kid just glares at me, and I can only assume gets the idea to plow me over, as he just kinda walks at me with a 8 year old version of a “death-glare”. However, as I simply have more mass than he, his efforts were wasted. The “oof” that came out of him as he slammed into me was quite hilarious, but I chose to not laugh at him (as I’m the polite type… even to damn little badasses such as “this one”). So I just look at him, give him a confused look, and continue on my merry way, happy with the thought that I had spoiled this kid’s plan to look tough simply by being larger than he. As I’m walking away, wondering what is wrong with the youth of today, I hear him (as he’s saying this directly to me, turned around and all) “Punk-ass-bitch.” That one confused me. I mean, does that even apply to me? I dunno. Regardless, my question still stands (and I can’t really understand why I, James F.W. Thompson - strong supporter of all things youthful, am saying this, but…) what the hell is wrong with kids these days?!
I mean, is it just me, or when you were, say 8, not petrified of “older kids”? Hell, when I was 8, I was scared of some of the larger 9 year olds. And now, at the ripe old age of 21, standing at 6’3”, I’m being accosted by 4 foot 8 year olds. Where did the fear go? I’m not saying there’s any reason to be afraid of me. Hell, odds are the kid probably coulda taken me on (and won) anyways - I’m just saying. Did I miss something? Do the basic rules of logic no longer apply? Now, these 2 kids on the sidewalk is not an isolated incident. Just today, as I was walking to the store, a kid almost ran into me. It was a fairly simple mistake, I just smiled at the kid, as they seemed to be playing or something. No harm done. However, the kid yells at me, as I passed (as I passed… I’m sensing a pattern here…) “Jesus, where’d ya get yer driver’s licence?” Um… what? Okay, so not only are there a lot of really bastardly kids out there, but they also seem to have lost all sense of… anything. To the defence of these particular kids, there was another one who said to the yelling one, “Um… he was walking… he wasn’t even in a car…” and then nailed the yelling one with a snowball. I like that kid. He’s alright in my book.
It makes me sad to realize that there are actually really pricky kids like that out there. I mean, sure when I was a kid there were a few kids that were like that (only not to that degree) - they were bullies. However, I also know that there are kids out there still who aren’t like that - who have a bit of sense left in their heads despite shows like “Becoming” (I had to burn that show at SOME point…) - like snowball kid (yes, snowball kid. I can only assume that this is his name). These pricky kids must be like super-bullies to the non pricky kids. That’s what makes me sad. That, and there’s just way too many of them. They’ve already claimed the sidewalks of Peterborough! Your town could be next, so watch out!
Wow… this rant really makes me realize how old I am… *sigh… It’s just a matter of time before I’m questioning what the kids these days listen to on their “mp3 players” and their “TV”… wait a minute… “Becoming”!!! It begins! Oh no! Soon I’ll start wearing cardigans and dress pants all the time and… oh no! It’s too late for me!! Tell my wife I… *static*