“I’d almost wish my kids would just smoke pot or something. I’m always encouraging them to break the law.”
Looking back, maybe it wasn’t the right thing to share…during a prayer meeting. Meh, it still sounds fine to me even as I type it now. Maybe you have to know my kids. Well, and you’d certainly have to understand that I enjoy the mildly inappropriate. I’m not talking about roasting ants under a magnifying glass for my own amusement. Not sadistic inappropriateness. Just a certain degree of impropriety. Once again, Homer Simpson says it best when defending his outrageous behavior to his wife, Marge:
Sure, I might offend a few of the blue-noses with my cocky stride and musky odors. Oh! I'll never be the darling of the so-called "City Fathers" who cluck their tongues, stroke their beards, and talk about "What's to be done with this Homer Simpson?"
Is it so wrong that I enjoy pushing the boundaries? Is it my fault that stodgy types adhere to the most rigid boundaries? Personally, I think God thinks I’m funny. I suppose the important question is just how delusional does that make me? Perhaps that’s not the important question, because now that I ask it, I realize I don’t care about the answer. Delusional people can still be funny. Sometimes they’re the funniest.
Anywho, all this came up because I’m celebrating my oldest son’s normal teenage behavior this past weekend. He spent almost an entire Saturday loitering downtown with friends. I know! I couldn’t believe it. They could have been dressed in all leather and spikes, and I would have been stoked. If he would have come home with a RIP Technoblade tattoo, I think I would have been impressed with the independence.
If you have teenagers during this strange season, maybe you feel the same as me. I’m not so old that I’ve completely forgotten how meaningless and vapid teen parties were back in the eighties and nineties. Sex, drugs and rock and roll (combined with a healthy bit of shooting up roadsigns) isn’t enlightenment in anyone’s book (or none that I subscribe to anyway). So I’m totally fine with their being considerably less of this kind of nonsense these days. But what about the occasional nude streaking across government property? or at least mooning a passerby from the bus window? Some sort of frivolous social behavior that counts as bonding, that’s all I’m asking for. I mean, go to a movie with friends and quote marxist theory in regard to the oppressive nature of movie-theater markups if that’s what passes as rebellious in your circles.
The point is to do something that hassles a few shopkeepers. The alternative of simply folding in on yourself into a world of isolation and online-only relationships seems like a much worse option to me. Nobody smokes pot alone, right? (I mean, not that I would know.) Ehem, moving on, I’m simply glad it looks like there might be some light at the end of the isolation tunnel. My kids are learning how to connect in person, even if it’s less frequent and with a more select audience of people. That’s probably healthier than how we did it back in my day. I suppose all my encouraging of them to go out and break some laws is finally paying off. Yep, that’s gotta be it.
(DISCLAIMER: I’m a fully law abiding citizen who believes in the benevolent rule of law and in no way encourages anyone to commit illegal acts against the state of any kind. And I make this statement of sound mind and body without being under duress of any kind.)
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