Yesterday morning started early, baby girl got a lot of rest with daddy the previous night, which she really needed. She woke up hungry and poopy; quick change, quick feed and she was sleepy once more. I figured I’d take her for an early walk and since I was out, I’d walk to do some errands close by. Why not right?
I got everything ready; got dressed and bundled her up for our little adventure. My husband popped her into the stroller and off we went. Man were the side walks treacherous in our neighbourhood, the ice was terrible; extremely bumpy in spots and smooth and slick in others. We took it nice and slow, but the main road side walkways were fine. We hit the bank first….I may want to rephrase that, it sounds like we robbed it. We visited the bank first, then went over to grab a coffee for mommy at the Tim Horton’s (coffee shop chain for those who aren’t Canadian), than off to the Dollar store and grocery store quickly.
Now, here is the topic at hand for today and why I’m just a tad, severely I should say, annoyed with the youth of today.
Manners and respect.
Now, I won’t lump all of the youth together on this one. I had encountered some lovely young ladies who held the door open or moved their bags out of the way, however the rest of you, well I was just sad to see the disrespect they had for a woman with a child.
There is a high school close by to the mall and at lunch, swarms of kids come out to have lunch, loiter, and do whatever kids do. As I stated, I headed to the Tim Horton’s for a coffee and as I was walking, there were a group of young ladies walking a few feet in-front of the stroller. When we reached the door, only 1 noticed me and hung back to hold the door open, the one in-front of her, looked behind her as she entered the coffee shop and finally noticed me behind her and attempted to hold the door open. Unfortunately, that is difficult to do leaning back over a stroller, but the effort was appreciated. However, the original girl was polite enough to take over and hold the second door as well. They offered for me to go ahead in line and I insisted they go ahead, they thanked me and lined up. The lady behind the counter didn’t look like she was in a good mood with all the teenagers around, I’m assuming they weren’t very kind to her. So, I decided to try and brighten her day, making small talk and my quick coffee order seemed to help. I got a smile and laugh out of her, and a nice goodbye.
As I was leaving, a girl moved her backpack on the floor out of the way so that I could get by with the stroller, she smiled as I passed, which was nice. But when I reached the door, three teenagers were blocking it, not noticing I was waiting there until I hit the button for it to automatically open. It was the girl who guided the two boys to move out of the way for me. Why is it always the girls? As I exited the coffee shop, I turned and was trying to walk on the sidewalk by the building when a small group of boys blocked the way. I wasn’t able to pass one portion had trash cans lined along the wall and the other parked cars. The boys entered the sidewalk after I did and continued to walk toward the entrance without concern or hestitation. I had to stand there and wait as they passed, none of them saying sorry, excuse me…..NOTHING!
As I proceeded into the mall, I had teens cutting me off as I walked, standing in the way, staring/side-eye glances and squeezing in-front as I tried to get through doors. And not one had remorse for what they did, no apologies for anything, just….self-centered and narcissistic. All about them.
For the select few ladies who did have manners and we very kind to me, I would like to say thank you, to you and your parents for teaching you manners and respect. For the others, it’s pure disappointment. As a teen I never treated a woman with a child that way, fuck even as an adult I never have. I don’t understand. Do kids not get taught manners or respect at home any more? Is social media to blame? Has our society become so twisted that this is what is deemed appropriate? I don’t even know any more, but it’s disheartening to see what our youth has become.
I grew up in a very Italian household, and I will say, we were taught how to be respectful and have manners. You knew that if you got, what we kids called, ‘The Look’, then discontinue misbehaving or stop being impolite. It was a different time back then, and disciplining your kids was different too. Now, don’t get me wrong, not all punishments back than were okay, but my parents were fair. (Didn’t feel that way as a kid, but I was a kid! I didn’t really know what was good for me.) But if we got a smack on the ass, we knew not to do whatever we did again.
But kids today, get away with a lot and society doesn’t accept any sort of punishment at home other than to talk it out. Good method, if the child will actually listen and communicate back to you. 99% of the time, kids are glued to cell phones or tablet and not paying attention.
So let me be candid; I will not be gluing my daughter to a phone or tablet to keep her occupied or quiet, I will have an open line of communication with her so we can discuss anything, I WILL teach her manners (please, thank you, excuse me, holding the door open for others, ect), I will teach her to respect others and I will also teach her to demand others to be respectful and polite toward her and receive nothing less. My girl is going to be aware of the world around her, not just her tiny bubble.
And do you know why I want all those things for my daughter?
Because I don’t want her to be mindless, to be a follower and disrespectful like the youth of today. I want her to be a free thinker and a kind, loving person and to be that type of person, you have to instill good values, morales and social skills. The world has been warped enough as it is, I don’t want my daughter to spiral along with it.
I’m sure I’m not the only one to feel this way, but I’m not sure one woman’s opinion matters these days. But can today’s youth be changed for the better? Unless it comes from inside the home, or the good company that you keep, I don’t foresee it changing any time soon.
Food for thought.
Ciao!
Mama on the Move 