[QUOTE]Originally posted by matrix
[B]Rob, I would have to agree with most of the others...seems like you ran into a pair of punks who had to maintain an image of toughness after you pointed out thier mistake in cutting you off.

 

I agree that this has always existed, however, imo the stupidity has escaladed. Take a separate example...in the past, disagreements where usually settled outside with no weapons involved other than your body (not that I condone fighting). Today, guns and knives are much more prevalent in these situations. Way back when I was in school , it was unheard of to bring a gun or knife to school...I wish I could say the same today. Not sure why things have changed for the worse but that is a whole other conversation....

 

[QUOTE]Originally posted by matrix
[B]

 

[QUOTE]Originally posted by matrix
[B]I agree that this has always existed, however, imo the stupidity has escaladed.

 

[QUOTE]Originally posted by ralper
[B]Actually, there may be a relationship here.

 

If I were to point blame it would be with our very own generation. When I was growing there were rules - some spoken, some unspoken - but there were plenty of rules at home, at school, at church, at scouts, at theaters, in stores, you name it..... And, more importantly there was consequences when they were broken. If a teacher swatted me and my parents found out, I knew what there reaction would be - "I'm sure you deserved it." And, I'm sure I did.

I can't explain why or what caused it, maybe lawyers pushing for easy money, parents who wanted to be much nicer than their own, or what but things changed. Instead of parents backing the teachers up, they went after them. We have friends who both highly education (master degrees +) and one is a School Counslor. We have NEVER seen them discipline either of their two kids. All they do is make excuses for them, try to laugh off all the trouble they have gotten into, etc.

 

[QUOTE]Originally posted by dlq04
[B]If I were to point blame it would be with our very own generation.

 

From what I've observed in my lifetime, I would totally agree.

 

As an older guy speaking from both experience and observation, I believe that the collective intelligence of a group of boys (or young men, if you will) varies inversely with the square of the number of boys in the group. Groups of boys without proper adult supervision, even small groups, are capable of absolutely astounding stupidity. Unfortunately, some of us take longer to grow out of this than others.

 

There is a thread going on right now in the S2000 Talk forum that I find to be maybe the most frightening thread I have read in my time here. The thread is titled "My friend just got an S2000." I have posted a link to it at the end of this post. In many ways it is symptomatic of some of the problems we are talking about here. It is a tale of instant gratification and what I think is a lack of adult guidance. Surely it is a tale of inexperience and poor judgment.

In a nutshell, a 15 year old is posting on behalf of his 17 year old friend. The friend doesn't have an internet connection of his own. Friend, who has graduated from high school and is now a student at a community college, was preapproved for a car loan. He bought an S2000 for $19,900 and use his old junk car for a down payment. He is now paying $480 per month for the next 5 years. The loan calculates to 18%. In essence, he is paying $30,000 for a $20,000 car. To make matters even worse, he is working 5 hours a night, 5 nights a week for UPS for $8.50 per hour. Nothing wrong with that except that because of the car he has to work and do you really think he will continue in school? He has, the 15 year old says, $300 left at the end of each month after making the car payment. He also has to pay for his cell phone. The point of the thread is that the 15 year old is asking, on behalf of the 17 year old, which modification should he do first, should he buy an exhaust.

When anyone suggests that perhaps the extra money should be saved or used to pay off the car, the answer is that the 17 year old is "really good at money management" and other assorted cliches. Other suggestions like finishing college first are met with similar responses.

I don't mind that young people want to enjoy some nice things, I don't even mind that sometimes youngsters have to learn by falling on their face, but this thread is a tribute to a lack of adult guidance, supervision, and good judgment. It is a story of instant gratification and how easy it is for an inexperienced kid to trade away his future, and then justify his actions. Read it for yourself and see if it makes you as concerned about our young people as I am.

https://www.s2ki.com/forums/showthread.php?...threadid=145221