Don't Break the Rules (And God Help You if You Do)

So there are all kinds of rules by which men must abide. These rules are put in place to make our lives easy, peaceful, and worry-free. Most men are aware of these rules, but they choose to disregard them anyway. The most egregious location in which these rules are broken is...the men's restroom. I was standing at a urinal the other day as another man walked into the restroom and took his place at the urinal next to mine. Broken rule number one buddy! Men should never stand at adjoining urinals. There should always be at least one between you and the person next to you. If there aren't any urinals available with space to spare...hold it. You don't need to pee bad enough to break this rule. As if breaking one rule wasn't bad enough; the man then attempted to engage me in conversation a la, "how's your day today, Tim?" What the hell dude? The restroom is not a place for small talk, the asking of favors, or impromptu dance numbers. The restroom is a place to relieve ones bowels, wash ones hands, and get the hell out. I would absolutely love to hear the story of how you raced down Bourbon Street in a Lamborghini Diablo against Chuck Norris or the time you stink palmed the President, but the restroom is not the place for such amusing anecdotes. If you want to strike up a conversation the moment our feet hit carpet outside the restroom door, I'm cool with that. It can wait buddy. Finally, not only did this individual show abysmal disregard for the previous two rules, but he chose to add insult to injury. While inquiring the goings-on of my day, he chose to turn his head and look at me to ask his question. Holy crap! I've been taking care of my restroom business for the majority of my life. I'm pretty sure I don't need your supervision. These rules have been around for thousands of years so that men can live a perfect lifestyle. I'm pretty sure the reason Brutus killed Caesar was because he talked in the crapper. Something to keep in mind the next time you're in a men's restroom.

Re-start

Ok, so I've only posted on here once and that means this blog is essentially worthless. I promise to do better in the future. That having been said, adopted sister (Cooking Mama) has been offering to give/giving me tips on cooking. My cooking/baking career is taking off. I will be experimenting over the next couple of weeks/months with different recipes and letting  you know their various states of success/failure. Cooking Mama has also agreed to teach me things in person and not just by correspondence which should be even more interesting. Also, the next couple of months should prove to be rather exciting as: softball season(s) will be starting up, I'm competing in a golf tournament, and Peanut will be moving up here and job searching. I'll try to post pictures of all the above mentioned events as they happen. So here's to a (hopefully) more active blog in the future.

Fear of Society

            Have you ever heard the phrase “the good ole days”? I’ve heard it quite a few times in my life actually. From what I understand they took place sometime in the fourth week of May 1977; then had a brief recurrence sometime around the third week of October in 1985, but were originally based on the events of October of 1879.

These dates aside, everyone has their own version of “the good ole days”. For me it was playing little league baseball and then piling the entire team into the bed of my dad’s pick-up for the post-game drive to McDonalds. Try picturing that happening today. During my childhood, occurrences like that were common. So were drinking from a garden hose, kids playing around various neighborhoods outdoors at any hour, and kids being let loose in the woods of a family friend to frolic and entertain themselves as they will. Nowadays it seems as if these practices have all but faded from view.

            Now, having said all that, I will also state that I grew up as a child of two worlds. I have many memories of all the aforementioned activities as well as holing myself up in a room to play video games for hours on end or read a book indoors. Regardless, the world has moved on. Neighborhoods are no longer safe after dark because you never know what kind of child predator lurks in the shadows. If city streets aren’t safe then God only knows what could be hiding in the woods. And, sweet mother, can you imagine what kind of bacteria could be growing in/around that garden hose?

            One particular mutation of society would be the proliferation of social networking websites. Now information is traded, not from person to person in a living room, but on a global scale via Facebook. Pictures are not shared one person at a time, but to hundreds, thousands, or even tens of thousands at a time. Anyone you deem worthy can witness every nuance of your life that you choose to make available. Some would say that this is advancement of society through widespread communication. Others would argue that it is a detriment and undermines the values of interpersonal contact/communication. I can easily see both sides, but I’m scared by the taboos that this society is beginning to impose.

            I recently read an article about a woman who had taken photographs of her babies playing in the bathtub (http://www.glamour.com/sex-love-life/blogs/storked/2009/09/bath-time-photos-or-child-porn.html ). I’m sure we’ve all had pictures like this that we prayed to God our mothers wouldn’t pull out when we had a date over at the house. These photos are considered treasured memories. My brother (henceforth known as Bro) had a close friend with a picture hanging in his house of the entire family (father, mother, friend, and friend’s brother) in the bathtub together when the two brothers were mere toddlers (no naughty bits were visible). Bro used to joke about who took the picture (it was a camera on a timer), but how would such a picture be perceived today? Were these parents sexualizing or molesting their children in this picture? No, it was a memory of their babies that the parents wanted to keep. How could anyone report such a picture as child pornography?

            Reading this article began to literally make me sick to my stomach. The thoughts and opinions of our society have become so depraved that cute, memorable, and innocuous pictures of children have become oversexualized and disgusting. I fear for a society that fears their own actions. We’re creating a nation of parents that will be too timid to take action in their child’s life for fear of being misrepresented. What will happen when our children cannot be spanked or even put in time out for fear of the “psychological trauma” it will cause? Myself, Bro, and Sis were all spanked as children and grew up to be strong, (mostly) disciplined, productive members of society. Are we trying to created a future of undisciplined, anarchistic, fear-mongers? Who benefits from such a society? I can only hope and pray that at some point certain values are restored. I’m all for societal and technological advancement, but not at the expense of the values that make us human.