Not So Famous…

We were watching the Good Eats Cocktails at Home episode, and we saw one of those commercials where kids are basically lambasting their parents for giving them junk food for lunch.  These kids are complaining about their cholesterol levels, diabetes, etc.  I expressed my annoyance for these commercials with pushy kids telling their parents what to do.  (Only slightly more annoying is the one where the kids are asking for various ailments like obesity, high blood sugar, heart attacks, and the like. You’re wondering what the heck is going on, when suddenly, the annoying kids start asking for more fries, another cookie, etc. Too bad one of them isn’t asking for 5 across the eyes, because that’s what I want to give them…but I digress.)

Once I expressed my annoyance, Kim, who sees what parents are really giving their kids to eat at school, explained that it is apparently necessary.  We then began discussing parents who don’t make their kids eat vegetables, allow their kids to be extremely picky, allow their kids to eat nothing but hot dogs and various forms of sugar. We talked about how they’re really damaging their kids by setting up patterns of behavior where these kids are allowed to manipulate their parents by throwing fits, or refusing to obey (read: being defiant). Not to mention the fact that they’re setting these kids up for early-onset diabetes, obesity, and possible malnutrition.  Malnutrition is less likely because of the advent of vitamins, which they think are a great replacement for bad eating habits (they’re not.)  What these parents ought to be doing is helping their kids to develop GOOD habits that will serve them throughout their lives.  What they OUGHT to be doing is raising their children in the way that they should go.  They OUGHT to be attempting to be parents, not best buds.  While we’re at it, why don’t we just hand the kids a beer or glass of scotch to wash down those hot dogs, or those doughnuts?

But that isn’t where it stops.  This is almost a different discussion, but we also talked about how sad it is that parents are increasingly becoming ignorant of basic child psychology.  They’re becoming increasingly less concerned with intelligence or education.  They pay lip service to “getting an education”, sure, but they don’t follow through with guiding them along that path. They might ask about a test score, occasionally, but they aren’t intricately involved in their childrens’ lives as they ought to be. How can they be?  After all, parents have lives, right?

YES….Your life is your children!!!!  Seriously, if you don’t believe that, don’t have kids, people. Raising children is another job, and one that you need to take as much pride in as anything in your life.  Your leisure time, your hobbies, all of that takes a back seat to your children unless you can do it WITH your kids.  Of course, this is just step 2 in denying yourself…you ought to have been denying yourself a bit since you got married, but I know most of you are not. You are as involved with yourself as you were before you got married.  That’s why the divorce rate is so high.  But I digress again…

I’ve noticed the tendency of some people to make fun of me (in good nature) when I use a word that isn’t found in the Sunday comics, like indefatigable.  (Yup, that’s a word…look it up.) They make fun of me because I know that H2SO4 is Sulphuric Acid.  They laugh and shake their heads when I discuss the fact that the word “photography” comes from the Greek words “phot-” and “graphe”, and literally means light-writing.  None of these things are hallmarks of intelligence. Your average person should know these things. A small knowledge of Greek prefixes and suffixes will help your understanding of the English language immensely. Knowing some of the chemical symbols and chemical formulas you learned in High School may help you understand why you ought not to mix some household cleaners. And increasing your vocabulary can only enrich your ability to communicate with your fellow man. These are life skills that can prove to be valuable, and there was once a time when you learned all these things. But these days, it seems that people take much more pleasure in making fun of someone who still holds intelligence and wisdom in high regard. I see that as sad.  I’m not saying these people who make fun of me are sad. They are products of an increasingly anti-intelligence society, really.  It takes a great deal of effort to go against the flow here, and if the rewards aren’t obvious, then their effort will be commensurate with that.

The other thing I find lamentable is that people do not hold any amount of upper class in high regard. It is considered snobbishness. For example, I prefer steel cut oatmeal instead of standard rolled oats in my porridge. I consider steel cut oats to have more flavor, texture, and they make a far creamier porridge than rolled oats, which I find to be bland, watery, and…just very flat. When I told someone of my preference recently, they acted as though I were some sort of snob. Why, because I prefer something over something else? Am I to come to the conclusion that everything is exactly the same?  It really is not. I am told that I am a snob when it comes to beer.  I don’t like Bud, Coors, Corona, or other such beers because I find them lacking in flavor and mouthfeel. They are good for getting drunk, but that’s not why I drink beer…I drink beer because I love the way it tastes!  But now I’m a snob because I prefer a “better” beer. There really is no appreciation for finding a consummate…anything anymore. No one strives to develop their tastes so that they can tell the difference between anything. How this ties in to our original discussion is that when parents don’t seek to better themselves, either through intelligence, or through being a connoisseur of anything, they don’t seek to provide their children with a drive to discover the best of anything. And thus, intelligence and a quest for perfection go by the wayside.

We ought to be cultivating these qualities in ourselves, and then passing them on to our children. Why settle for less than the best that we can reasonably afford or attain?  You see I allow for expediency in my elitism, lol.  I do not drink the beer I love very often because an excess is not good for me, and because we cannot afford it. I do not make my steel cut oatmeal in the morning during the week because it takes too long. There is a place for expediency, and that is part of the education we can be providing our children.  It takes work.  It takes denial of self.  But the rewards are definitely worth it.

**If you are offended by this post, take 24 hours before commenting. Look at why you are offended. Are you offended because you feel convicted that you are guilty of what I describe?  Can you defend your position adequately?  Or do you think, perhaps, that you ought to strive for these things a little more. What can you do to begin on your journey to greater knowledge, appreciation for the finer things, and health?  That is a discussion I am happy to have.