Post
by felinefan » Thu May 17, 2007 3:59 am
You know what worries me? These kids today rely so heavily on cell phones, IM, Blackberries, and other electronic devices, that when they talk face to face with a real person, they aren't as socially aware as those of us who wrote letters with either paper and pen or typewriter, contacted people by landline phone, and actually learned manners and social graces. Take that kid that shot up Virginia Tech; they were saying he had socialization issues, among other things. They say basically the same thing with everyone else who commits a high-profile crime. People have no sense that they have to take other people and their feelings into account, that the world does not revolve around them, etc.. We have all had instances where a guest has wanted something, whether it's for an undersized/oversized member of their party join them on a particular ride, that a store stay open after closing, etc.. In my day, we understood that we couldn't always get what we wanted ; something Mick Jagger obviously understood :) . Nowadays, kids and adults alike have this idea that they can have anything they want, when they want it, and to hell with reality. Ever notice how if an adult says no to something a child wants, the kid tries to negotiate their way into getting it? Are our kids being taught by salespeople to "get past the no"?
What I'm saying is, I'm afraid that we are moving towards a time when not supplying what someone wants will become a crime, and even more violence will result. I think we can all remember incidents where someone didn't get what they wanted and caused major havoc as a result. And not just in the parks. You can say we need more outreach programs, more violence avoidance programs, but that won't change anything. There's an old saying: "If you give a pig and a boy everything they want, you'll have a good pig and a bad boy." Check out the Loeb-Leopold kidnap/murder case of the 1920s; those two were intelligent young men, very wealthy, but their parents weren't there for them, and they got into major trouble--Google it. Calling something gay or retarded shows lazy thinking. Instead of saying something more appropriate, that girl fell into the lazy trap of calling something gay or retarded. Though there was a time when you could call something or someone gay and offend noone, it had a different meaning then. And the word "retarded" doesn't mean stupid, it means slow. People use words that either don't exist (I once had a teenaged guest say something was "funner"; yes I corrected her), or they misuse a word. Obviously they are too busy trying to aid the Latinization of America by teaching Spanish and Mexican studies to teach proper English.
to you for taking this verbal abuse so well & handling the rudness with such class. CMs such as you add to our (CM) quality guest service reputations. THANK YOU! :) You give the world hope, & I give you much credit for the self control you were able to gather. Me? I'd never have been as kind. :cheers:
