decide what's good for you because.....

amazed · Post time 27-1-2008 08:40 PM

.... no one else can.

Actually  I didn't want to talk about intelligent political or economic debate and whatnot.  For as long as I can remember, politicians have been making promises and breaking them....  They remind me so much of bad parents that I've come to treat them like bad parents.

Besides, It doesn't seem to matter how much gets written, whether what's written is positive or negative, it doesn't change a thing....    Just as no matter how bad a parent he or she maybe, they're still parents and parents know best, so we should just shut up and be grateful for the wisdom they bestow upon us........ After all, their time is precious, isn't it??

But,  in the meantime, we kids have grown up a little and have realised certain truths about bad parents that don't necessarily agree with us...    Truth is, our allowances suck ( at least mine were hehe), they don't answer our calls ( d'oh...) but get upset if we don't answer theirs ( figure!! )...

What about the time....  when we invite them to events that are important to us and they shut us up by saying they'll be there but cancel at the last minute and expect us to understand.

Parents can get very busy, ya see...  and we're just kids so we shouldn't give them too much hassle, even if they do fall asleep at our parent-teacher association meetings...

Actually... hey.. wait!!..  now that I think about it, there is no excuse for bad parenting. But we put up with it anyway, and why's that?? -

Why do we do that for?? Is it because we're afraid? Afraid of what? Being punished? Getting caned? Being scolded? ? Grounded?

Maybe, but that doesn't make much sense either..., why?  Well, because that never stopped us from making waves in the classroom back at school.

Well...... truth to be said.... we misbehaved knowing that we'd get punished for it.  After all, we played truant, gave school the bird, and went off to play snooker, knowing full well that there would be hell to pay if we got caught!!

But we did it anyway.... Yup, we absolutely did  it!!. And boy o' boy.... did we feel cool! So what happened? Where's our guts, our edge, that burning desire to live our lives our way, despite how the rules tell us we should live it?

Could it be because we can no longer tell the difference between rules that exist to protect us, and rules that exist to restrict us. Think about it, why do rules exist?

Mmmm.... let's take a moment to think about the rules you find at a swimming pool. Then, take another moment to think about the rules you find at a five-star restaurant. Between the two, which makes more sense?

A rule that tells you not to play in the deep end? Or a rule that threatens to not serve you if your shirt doesn't have a collar?

I'm hoping that the spacing of my lines, are wide enough for you to read between them. I am talking about bad parents, but at the same time, I'm not.

And that's about as big a hint as I'm going to give you, because we live in a society of rules. And it is our duty not as Malaysians, but as human beings, to decide for ourselves, what rules exist for us and what rules exist for others.

However.... I suppose you could argue that such thinking can also lead to anarchy and it can, and that in itself is as dangerous as bad parenting. But anarchy arises from a need to be heard.

Now.... what justification can bad parenting claim? Please, don't misunderstand me, I'm not saying that we should start a fight, because rarely has there been a fight that has resulted in anything good.

I haven't been in a fight since I was a teenager and there's a good reason for that -- because I've grown up. We're adults now, no longer the directionless children we used to be.

We've evolved.  Haven't we?? -

It's necessary to question our parents, because I've come to learn over the years that sometimes, our parents are just as frustrated and confused as we are. ... And why shouldn't they..?

They never intended to be bad parents, or to push us away or to restrict us from being ourselves. It just turned out that way.

Just as we didn't grow up intending to hate those above us, those with the power to dictate what we can see or say or think or do.

It was never meant to be this way, and for that reason alone, we must be understanding of the dilemmas we face as children, as adults and most importantly, as parents.

I don't know for sure, if any of this makes sense.... Maybe some of it does, and if that's the case, then that's great. Take what little of it makes sense to you and use it.

But use it wisely, because we only get one shot at it, and it lasts our whole lives. .... Now.. does that make sense? You tell me.