Parents and their shit

I'm a parent and I'm full of shit. My parents were full of shit. I suspect that all humans are largely made of poo.

Here's an argument I've seen a few people get fired up about in the all-important Facebook: "The schools" need more God in them as evidenced by the removal of the Pledge of Allegiance from the classroom. Now, I was in a 'liberal' Massachusetts classroom not that long ago and the Pledge was recited over the PA as part of the daily morning routine. I clearly remember the Pledge as part of the morning routine the last time I attended public school 30 years ago. Nowadays, kids are offically not required to participate. In the old days, there was no offical policy but I VERY clearly remember many kids (including me) not reciting the thing every day. Conclusion - there's no difference between the good old days and the bad new days.

Second case in point: Yesterday, I chatted with a guy in my age group about medications prescribed to kids 'nowadays'. He made a very common assertion that we didn't have all this stuff in our day and that kids are imbalanced now because of all the chemicals in the food supply. In our day, we had natural foods and no need for all the medicines to combat the effects of the hormones and other chemicals in food. He then told me about all the drugs he is currently taking to combat ADHD, which he has suffered from since he was a teen in the late 70s. Irony alert!!

The bullshit in these arguments is obvious to me and I suspect that any young person with a thought in their head would be able to think right through this nostalgic crap. I suppose I say things like this myself, but I hope that my kids would be confident and smart enough to call me out. Don't believe them when your elders start with their good-old-days routine. It has always been a line of bullshit.