People Today - Changes

Ever sat and talked to your Dad or maybe even your Grandpa?  Ever sat there and listened to them bitch and moan about how things are today?  I sure have. And to be honest, most of the times I just sat there and politely listened, keeping my laughs AND opinions to myself.


These guys need to accept that things change.  Actually, I think they know things change.  They just need to understand that changes happen regardless of whether they like them or not.  The world is not as it was when they were our age.  Just because someone disagrees with you does not make them a commie.  Listening to rap music does not make one a gangster.  Putting spinners on your car does not make you a..... wait, yes it does.  They are right on that one!  Change is constant.  They were part of change as they were growing up.  So, things are pretty much the way they were except the changes have... changed.


For some things, though, they do make some valid points.  As time has passed, we have gotten away from some of the things that made our country great.  We as a country have tossed aside many of the values that our parents and grandparents had.  That's quite unfortunate.  Seemingly gone are the days where we were "all in this together" and where a guy could drive down the street and exchange a friendly wave with the car passing him in the other lane.  Okay, that is still present in some of our smaller towns.  But, in general, the world has gotten big and people have changed.  It's sad really.


Why have people changed?  A lot of the basic necessities in life are still the same - food on the table, potable water, roof over your head.  But there are new "necessities" - checking email, playing video games, surfing the net.  People have made themselves so fricking "busy" that there is no time to work on their social skills with family and friends.  Put simply - communication.  No one knows how to communicate anymore.

In business, the telephone was replaced by the fax machine and now email.  People never meet anymore.  They never talk.  How many times have people misunderstood you in an email?  I sure have had that happen.  And why?  It's because a typed word is a typed word - their is no voice inflection or tone.  The exact same words read by one person can be taken in a completely different way by someone else.  You never told me that!  Yes, I did!  Simple as that.


So, how can we work on communication?  Well, the first thing you can do (and have your kids do) is to TALK!  Don't have family time huddled around a computer, TV or video game.  Some is fine.  But, too much is too much.  And as the kids grow up and move out, talk to each other on the phone.  Parents, check in from time to time and suggest the kids give their grandparents a call.  I know I am VERY guilty of not calling my grandparents enough.  Aside from keeping social skills up, you will also make the grandparents feel wonderful and loved.

Unfortunately, the less and less we talk to people, the more we lose our verbal communication skills.  Have you noticed how many people seem to REALLY struggle in social situations?  How many people have troubles holding a conversation?  If people could speak using "brb, LOL, :-) and WTF", I think that would make at least a FEW more people comfortable.  And if we could equate things to discussions about Halo or Grand Theft Auto, that could help things a little more.  Man, we need to work on this!

In a way, we can make things better starting with the parents.  We need to work on communication with each other again.  We need to learn to respect others.  We need to remember that our way might not be the ONLY way.  And sometimes our way is NOT the right way.  If we can accept that others think differently, we can then work on reaching resolutions to many of our problems.  Sometimes, the right thing is to agree to disagree and then move on.  This is a BIG issue with our government.

What do our government leaders do, especially today?  They talk to others through the media.  And they use big, scary and threatening words.  Oh sure, these folks know how to communicate.  But, are their tactics really doing us any good?  Our leaders (not JUST here in the US) poke at others with sticks constantly.  We have leaders in the Far East and Middle East trying to see how far they can push us and others.  We've got another one in South America.  Yes, they may all have some impressive weapons (or oil reserves) and may be getting a lot of other people to hate us.  Not everyone has to LIKE us - life lesson.  However, sometimes we need to step off our high horse (i.e., we're better than you attitude) and take the high ROAD to resolve some of these issues.

Maybe I am over simplifying.  Taking the high road can be much more effective sometimes.  And the high road might not necessarily be a pleasant place to be.  You can still be tough!  In regular words that I like to use - sometimes it's really cool to make that guy who is a total douchebag LOOK like a total douchbag to everyone else!  Ahhh, satisfaction!  Job finished.  We all go home.  A good example of this - 1991 NBA Playoffs.  Chicago Bulls beat the Detroit Pistons.  We told everyone all year AND the past several years that the Pistons were total assholes.  When the Bulls won that series, all but a couple of the Pistons walked off the floor without even a handshake.  Heck, without even any eye contact!  Dickheads!  If I am not mistaken, the only two who did hang around to shake hands were Joe Dumars and John Salley.  The rest of those assholes proved what they were to the entire world.  Finally!  And how satisfying is that.  Our work here is done!

Anyway, back to the bigger picture.  No, I have NO interest in being a leader in our government.  I choose to lead in a different way.  I lead by asking questions.  I lead by informing and getting people to think.

Teach your kids the values that you grew up with - those values taught by the same crotchedy dad and grandpa mentioned earlier.  Teach the kids the art of communication.  And for yourself, get out there and TALK to people.  Even a short voicemail gets you practice.  Cherish family dinner time and the conversation that ensues.  Remember that we ARE all in this together.  And if we quit thinking so much about what is easiest for us (email, text messaging, etc.) and get back to some basics (talking), together we can help America get back to being the great nation it once was.