Re Flirting With Disaster (Jan 13): Are parents of adult off-spring not exacerbating their own problems by allowing the kids to move home (or never move out) in the first place?
How does a "child" live at home if the parents don't want him to be ther? And then have the nerve to complain about it?
I have adult children who suffer from some of the attitudes written about in Alexandra Shim's Article. Their apartments look like dorm rooms and they have no interest in finding a "real" job, despite having university degrees. They still dress like skateboarders, party like co-eds, and shake their heads in disbelief when a friend gets married or buys a house or condo. But they pay their own rent and buy their own food. They know that the only way they can live at home, rent free, is if they are in school. And that offer only stands until age 30.
Parents: Just say no! Decide what is best for you and your family and stick with it.
COLLEEN COOKE, Brockville, Ont.
I could deconstruct this, but I'd just be repeating stuff I've said before. Instead, I'd just like to draw attention to the sections I've bolded. We're working in reverse order because it flows more smoothly that way.
1. "They're paying their own rent and food", but "they have no interest in finding a 'real' job". If their job allows them to pay their own rent and food, it sounds "real" enough to me!
2. "Their apartments look like dorm rooms" is presented as an "attitude" from which they "suffer". This is a problem why? "Dorm room" is a bit subjective, but I'm taking it to mean a cheaply-furnished space that looks like it's inhabited by a young adult. What would you have their apartments look like instead? Given that you feel the need to explicitly state that they pay for their own rent and food, I'm inferring that they're not rolling in money. So isn't using cheap furniture the responsible thing to do when you have no money?
/me puts on Crotchety Gramma Hat
Parents Today! When will they learn to stop being so damn unappreciative? Why, in my day, parents were happy that their kids had a job, any job that could support them, without fussing about whether it's a "real" job that they can show off to all their little parent friends! In my day, if parents weren't happy with the furniture their kids could afford with their hard-earned paycheques, they either showed some initiative and bought them some better furniture as a gift, or they kept their damn mouths shut!
/me takes off Cortchety Gramma Hat
Seriously though, one thing I find really disturbing about all this is all these parents who aren't giving their kids any credit for their own life decisions. This lady is taking all the credit for the elements of her kids' lives that she approves of, and getting all judgeosaurus on their asses for the elements she thinks are suboptimal. This makes me wonder if, somewhere out there, my parents are taking all the credit for my life, when in reality everything good I achieved by going against their wishes (studying translation) or behind their back (mi cielito).
No comments:
Post a Comment