Respect?

Remember when we were younger and we had to say please and thank you? Yes ma’am? No sir? I remember and it really needs to make a comeback. We are raising our kids in kind of an old school way. They don’t have cell phones yet. They have chores and can’t do fun things until they are done. There are no “yeahs” or “huhs” used when answering elders. They know phone etiquette. I know you’re thinking, “Neisha that doesn’t sound ‘old school’ at all!” Sadly, a lot of kids are not being taught these simple manners. Or maybe they are and they just don’t give a shit and these things are not being reinforced. I don’t know; not my circus, not my monkeys.

Now, I am not saying that our kids don’t “forget” how to act sometimes, but for the vast majority of the time, they are awesome. The same cannot be said for some of the children they go to school with. I have been to several school functions and I have seen first hand that some of these kids (more than I would like to admit) have lost every bit of their damn minds! The way they speak to each other and especially the way they talk to the teachers… it’s sad.

**SIDE NOTE** I will forever say that teachers are NOT compensated enough and are severely underappreciated.

I really don’t know how things have just gone to shit so quickly. My mother would have knocked me into next month if I acted remotely like some kids do now. Obviously, I don’t know every child’s home/life situation and I know that can play a factor in a kid’s behavior, but that cannot be the case for every single one of them.

Outside of the general rudeness, one of the thing that bothers me the most is the lack of phone etiquette. In the age of cell phones, a lot of younger people have no idea how to ask for someone on a phone that doesn’t belong to the person they are trying to reach. Do you remember how terrifying it was to call a friend, or ever worse a person you liked, and having to talk to their parents? You had to be SUPER polite or the parent you were speaking to would basically tell you to fuck off, hang up on you and not even think twice about it. I almost did this the other day. One of Kaylee’s friends called and we usually let her answer it when we see that number, but I just happened to answer it this time. Of course, I answer the phone like a civilized person with a polite “Hello?”. Nothing could have prepared me for what happened. Absolutely nothing. Instead of a nice little ten-year-old asking to speak with Kaylee, I got a voice in my ear saying “Where’s Kaylee?”. No hi/hello/kiss my ass. Nothing. No acknowledgement whatsoever of the person who pays the damn phone bill. So, with as much calm as I could muster, I say “excuse me?” and then she proceeds to yell in my ear “WHERE’S KAYLEE?!”. It was so loud that Robert and Chris both heard it on the other side of the living room and Chris then proceeded to hide under his blanket because he knew that I was pissed. I then say to the girl that next time she calls, she needs to ask to speak with someone instead of just asking where they are. All I got was silence. I have never wanted to crawl through a phone and pop a kid in the mouth so bad in my whole 30 years of life. I handed to phone to Kaylee and Robert and I both said that she needs to say something about it to her friend and like a good child, she did. Her friend could not wrap her brain around the fact that we all thought it was rude. I later told Kaylee that if that ever happens again, I will tell her friend that she is no longer allowed to call this house again. I mean that 100%.

Sometimes, I feel bad at the thought that our kids will be vastly different than everyone in their generation. Then I remember that fitting in with everyone else sucks and I am extremely happy that they won’t be like everyone else.

Until next time, say please and thank you, and as always stay peculiar.