The Jealousy I’ve created

Or I should say help create. Because It takes 2 to tango, right? Isn’t that how the old saying goes? I could just leave this unfinished thus creating a perfect show not tell piece. But I’m going to dumb it down a few shades and let you know what I’m talking about. (Hell, if I didn’t know myself, even I wouldn’t know what I’m talking about.) The title is referring to my kids. “The Jealousy I’ve Created.” Yes but not just my kids am I jealous of, but today’s common child in America. It was my generation that fucked everything up for you. The disrespectfulness to authority figures, the outlandish and irresponsible sex, the manufactured problems, the shoot first and ask questions never mentality, oh and let us not forget the birth of the Internet. I say this to be the token old man on the porch yelling to “keep off of my grass.” Honestly I would love to be the old man doing that, but I am only 33. Why do I feel so old? Like generationally speaking, I would be label as a millennial. But I don’t like millennials. I have an old soul and everything I do is old skool.  (Hell I still buy cds). My stubbornness will not allow me to conform to a lot of new age ideas and ethics of this new generation. I hate a lot of things about today, but what I really can’t stand is how easy our children has it. Gone are ass whoopings, food stamps, scolding, absentee parenting, family events that are not shared via social media outlets, and even matriarch/patriarchs of families. Replacing those are friends, likes, follows, memes, texts, and memes. I will get into this deeper but for every action is a reaction. So my action for this comes from an episode I had with my daughter.

My daughter loves the show Teen Wolf, so I tried to use Teen Wolf to motivate her into doing a special project for me. (The fact that I have to bribe these kids nowadays just to do anything, further illustrates my point.) My daughter is half Salvadorian and half Black so I am trying to further teacher about her Black ancestry. So what I did to bribe her was, bought a Teen Wolf t-shirt and told her she had to write a 1 and a half page report, on any country of her choosing in Africa. Include GDP, population, major religion, exports, etc. I showed her the prize which would be waiting for her upon completion. In my twisted head, I said to myself “Wow if this doesn’t motivate her, I dont know what will.” I gave her 2 hours to complete. (Omce again jealous, my moms would have only given me 30 mins). I went running on the stairs to Coit Tower, got back home, stretched, took a shower, and ate lunch. The 2 hours passed and she only had 1 paragraph done. (On wide ruled paper mind you.) I flipped out. “What’s taking you so long?” I asked. She sat there and just shrugged her shoulders. Angrily, I left the room.

I went back into my memory banks to think about what the parents of our generation would of done. The Baby Boomers. Granted I’m pretty sure that a lot of parents did not spank their children when I was growing up but the parents were still tougher. ( As an example, I can recall my Chinese friend Alex growing up. His mom didn’t believe in spankings, but she disciplined him like crazy. Even to the foods he ate. He once got in trouble at school and his mom made him eat the same food for a whole month. Breakfast, lunch and dinner.)  Now getting back to me, I was privy to many of ass whoopings. (Belts, brushes, switches, extension cords etc you name it, i probably got spanked by it). And no I know what you’re thinking. It’s not just a Black thing. My white friends, Latino friends, my Filipino friends, my Asian friends, would all get whoopings. Back to the baby boomers, what would they have done? On top of a butt whooping, I would of had to stand in the corner, clean up the house, do any chores that a neighbor wanted me to do, had tv and dinner privileges revoked, then I would have to double the length of the project.

You can see my jealousy with this generation. This is the participation generation, everyone gets a trophy, let’s be inclusive, you don’t have to be talented or skilled just likable, it’s too hard can’t someone else do it,  and the whining, entitled generation. Remember when only the winning little league team got a pizza party for winning, and not the losing team? Remember getting booed by opposing teams parents and faculty while playing a sport? Remember backing up your trash talk and not hiding behind your Instagram account? Ahhhhh yes the good ole days. Remember when you actually had to work to get something you wanted? My first job, I was 7 and I would charge my neighbors 2 dollars to go to safeway and do their grocery shopping. Had to provide receipts and count back their change, pick up prescriptions, and even the  embarrassing moments of using food stamps. Followed by that I had a car washing business in the parking lot of our apartment building. I would also charge tourists 50 cents for information on how to get to Coit Tower from out apartment building. Adolescent years worked in demolition, food prep, construction and even retail. Now I know that you can’t legally work until 16 now, but the jobs available for the modern American teenager, those same teenagers deem as “Immigrant Jobs” or “jobs beneath them.” For me that’s a very disrespectful mentality to have. You as an American teen already have a mentality that you’re better than someone else? Also too my friends whose parents were not born in this country, isn’t it demeaning that these “kids that I’m referring to” are direct relatives from said immigrant they speak down upon? It’s sickening, right?

Now, when these kids finally do enter the work sector, they are too soft. They can’t handle the common obstacles of the work they are doing. Whether they’re a waiter, hostess, food prep, mechanic, or sales clerk, they all lack customer service skills. They have an attitude when you (as a consumer) confront them on their behavior. I’m pretty sure we all can give great examples in seeing this in our day to day lives, right?

Maybe just maybe this opinion of mine is biased. Maybe it was because I was raised in the crack era as a black kid in America. Maybe just maybe it was when MEN were MEN and LADIES were LADIES. (Side note, this has nothing to do with gender identity or sexual orientation, I come from the era if you’re a man, gay man, straight man, bisexual man, trans man etc. you help out like a man in society would.  If there was only one seat on a bus and you saw an elderly lady or pregnant lady, or handicapped man, you offer that seat up. That kind of man. Plain and simple).

I don’t have faith in our younger generation due to their lack of humility. Instead of engaging problems head on, they cower behind an image of who they want to be, instead of who they are. How can I depend on people to take care of me in my olden years, when the laws protect them from hardships? So you can see my jealousy, right? Lmao, they can eat ice cream any time they want to. Hell they can watch pornography anytime they want to. We had to work for those things. Lmfao. Leisure and past times have now become the forefront of careers. Imagine there is now a career field for managing someone’s fantasy football team. Imagine that people on YouTube get paid to play video games and give you their opinions, so you won’t have to play. Instead of renting the game, you will just watch someone else play it for you. Imagine that there is a career field for managing someone’s social media accounts. (Jealousy much) Hell Yes I am.

“But Tareau wait, hold on a second man. Isnt the goal in life, is to have your children succeed you? Isn’t it your job as their parent to make their lives easier? Aren’t you suppose to provide them with things and opportunities that you didn’t have?”

To be continued ladies and gents……..