The Trouble With Kids Today...

That, of course, is intended as a laugh line.  The first commentary on that topic was written in Cuneiform, on clay tablets.  But it's still a workable headline, and appears in all major media, under various disguises, at least 4X per year, per newspaper, or talk show, or whatever.

Hi!  I'm still not dead yet!  This post will be, I hope, relatively brief; since a) short is better in this world, b) I have other urgent things I must do in the next few hours, and c) - it has dawned on me, finally, that even if I wrote about the "stuff" included in the post title at length, and to the extent of my expertise on the topic; I would not really be able to communicate even "most" of it.

Probably lost you already, with that one!  Back to the "Kids".

I have an unusual perspective available to me on the subject.  I remember being a kid myself, in considerable detail; I was paying attention to kidness at the time.  I have 2 from my first marriage, now both in their 30s (yes, I know B, closer to 40 for you, but I'm blocking, and prefer to keep it that way.)  I also have one right now who is 10.  Smack in the middle of Kid, for her, though as part of that experience, she denies it, and identifies far more as a "young lady".  And I teach, multiple ages.

The thing that triggered this blog post; I'm currently re-reading, for the umptieth iteration, a book that was written for kids; over 100 years ago, which is a very great favorite of mine.  I still read aloud to my 10 year old, though she frequently now reads some of whatever it is to me, too; we both like it a lot.

And I hesitated, about attempting to read this one, over 100 years old, to Smidgen.  Still hesitating.  Writing this, instead, half thinking perhaps writing it, or your comments, will clarify things.

Not, at all because she wouldn't understand the dialogues, embedded dialects, topics from pre-industrial cosmos, or that she wouldn't enjoy the book.  She handles all that kind of stuff already, just fine.  She would love to pick up some new tag-lines; and learn new, esoteric words.

I hesitate because I'm -just a bit- afraid of putting her on a path that will separate her even further from her classmates and peers.  The vast, vast majority of Kids these days are completely unfamiliar with the literature of the previous century, both words and concepts; and give you blank incomprehension if you try to communicate with them using such referents.  I need- you need - Smidgen needs - to communicate with them, and of course they are totally worth communicating with.  But cultural referents outside Twitter are now a barrier.

Smidgen already drops words and references that leave not only peers but many adults with blank faces.  Do I really want to make it worse?  The other horn of the dilemma (did you know dilemmas have horns?) is that I believe deeply that nothing you learn is ever a waste; at some point, it will enrich your life.

This sort of generational shift has happened many times, since the cuneiform editions, and we've survived.  But we have something different going on now, too.  Not only is there a possible barrier due to time passing and changing us- Kids Today have instant access to incomprehensibly more information, and varying cultural sources, than us ancients ever did.  It's very easy for this dumb kid who doesn't understand you at all - to be a PhD level expert, in grade school, on some topic you know nothing about yourself, have no frame of reference for, and no interest in.  Leaving both parties feeling the other is without worth.

That too has happened before, but never on the current scale.

Oddly- the best cure for incomprehension I've found is also a major part of the problem - YouTube, and its derivatives.  It's now my tool of choice, when my Kids (all 3) do not understand something I'm trying to explain.  It'll usually take me around 30 seconds to find a video that crosses and connects viewpoints.  The most frequent scenario is the Kid has to be dragged, by me, to the screen, and parented into wasting time watching something they're SO not interested in; halfway through the video they start to "get it"; and by the end, they're absorbed.

You can see the neurons connecting up.

But boy, is it a lot of work.

Ok, a tad longer than a good Tweet; but hey, short for me.

Listen to the Silence, too.

As part of our "how to understand the world" theme here; I'll point out that what the media is not saying is very often as significant as what they are.

I've been searching the web since last night; and cannot find any official news about the state of Dr. Craig Spencer, being treated for Ebola at Bellevue Hospital in NYC, that is more recent than 2 days ago.  And only one other blogger who has also noticed.  Not a peep from CNN or anyone else.

That's scaring me a bit.  The entire world seems to be assuming that of course, he'll recover; since he's being treated in the USA, etc, etc.  He did receive a blood transfusion from an Ebola survivor; several days back; and that was about the end of the updates; that he was "tolerating" the transfusion well.

This is a young man who deserves to get well, and to be appreciated for his warm humanity.  If he made any mistakes, it was the grave sin of believing what he was told by his superiors.  "This is safe." they said.

I fear the social consequences too; if he does not recover- dies- the impact on our fear and chaos levels will be very large; and very little of that would be beneficial.

Listen for when the crickets quit.

A small lesson from the climate change front.

My tongue hurts.

Because?  Well, because blackberries (the berry kind) don't grow in Minnesota; it's too cold.  We have black raspberries, red raspberries, lotsa other berries, but the true blackberry- nope.  They're all over Wisconsin (the southern half) and Iowa (the southern half) - but - none of my neighbors know what a blackberry is.

Which I've usually been very thankful for.  Raspberry vines/canes are thorny- but blackberry vines will tear your shirt, your jeans, and your skin, bigtime.  I've fought through blackberry tangles enough in other places that I'd rather not have them around.

But.  Now- they're here.  Seed dropped by birds, most likely- and they've been getting established near the Little House for a couple of years.  Almost fruited last year- but the drought really kept anything from happening.  This year is wet- and so-

Looks yummy, huh?  And there are tons of them.  Could be making two pies a day.

They're wild- but they're big.  Like 3 times as big as our wild black raspberries ever get- so; very tempting.  My hand, which takes an XL glove.

I've been feeling fatalistic about it- if the birds are dropping seed- they'll drop more next year.  If the plants are surviving - then, they'll survive.  So.  Might as well enjoy this luscious free wild fruit, right?  Of course!  Going to lose the fight to keep them out anyway.  I go out in the morning, pick 5 or 6 handfuls and inhale them for breakfast.  And lunch.  And dinner.  Why wouldn't you?

Now it's been years since I've eaten many blackberries.  They are a bit seedy- but you just crunch up the seeds, and it becomes part of the whole "sweet/sour/juicy/crunchy/wild berry" mouth experience.

And, I'm sure I knew this as a kid, in Indiana and Ohio- but I'd forgotten.

If you eat fast- NOT ALL THE CRUNCHY BITS ARE SEEDS.

I know this for a fact; because- one of the crunchies got to me before I crunched it- and bit me on the tip of my tongue- hard.

I spit him out- but not fast enough, and my tongue still hurts.

I'm still shoveling them in.  But I do now, usually, give the various critters also enjoying the berries just a little time to scurry out and away, before inhaling.