Yet Another Disturbing Trend

Have we gotten to the point in our society where if we call someone out for bad bahavior, WE are the ones who are accused of bad behavior??? Example: Someone is saying hateful things about someone else. You call them out on it. THEY accuse YOU of being judgemental (or racist, sexist, intolerant...take your pick). Are we so used to getting a free pass (especuially Liberals) that we cannot recognise bad behavior when we see it??? Are people so blinded (and thin-skinned) by Political Correctness that they will sweep ANYTHING under the rug (and make excuses for it)??? How can the people of a society act civil when they cannot see the difference between civil behavior and uncivil behavior??? Those who cry the loudest (the ones who cry "judgemental" when confronted) are often the guilty ones.

A Woman After My Own Heart

This post is by a friend of mine, Edge_Wall. She feels a lot like I do about the current state of the country and about young Green Day fans. She was my inspiration for writing America the Blind.

Another Disturbing Trend

Why is it that parenting has deteriorated so badly recently??? Case in point: According to a post on GSB.net (click here), some teenage girl has a dangerous obsession with Green Day's Billie Joe Armstrong. This girl is so deluded that she has literally hundreds of pictures of Billie's wife Adrienne all over her walls (think stalker-type on Law&Order). Now in and of themselves, a bunch of pictures on someone's wall may not seem so bad. Innocent teenage infatuation, right??? Wrong. What makes these pictures so sinister is the fact that Adrienne's face has been mutilated and threatening messages (like Die 80, Die) have been written on them.
Now the obvious question is: Where are the parents (even other teens were asking this very same question)??? To answer the question: You'd be surprised how jaded and blind parents can be. Some parents are disturbingly in denial about the activities of their kids. They can't face the reality that their kids are sick and need help. It's a dangerous place to be. Some parents are also afraid that if they commit their child, somehow the media will find out and everyone will think they are a bad parent. I've got news for them: If their child hurts someone, the media WILL find out and brand them a bad parent. So it's a lose-lose situation. It's a pride issue with the parents. They do not want to admit that something is wrong within their family. They want everyone around them to believe everything is perfect, when the reality is everything is falling apart. It is what happens when people live their lives based on acceptance and approval of others. It's a vicious cycle.
This chick needs a psych eval and maybe jail or mental hospital time too. If her bizarre behavior is left unchecked, it could have tragic consequences. Now, I hope and pray that that does not happen, but I am not going to bury my head in the sand, either. There have been too many celebrity-stalking cases and cases of sick teens running amok and the parents claiming "I didn't know my teen was mentally unstable". I have a simple solution: talk to your teen. Ask them what is going on in their lives. Do not belittle and make light of their problems. What may seem like nothing to you, may seem like the end of the world to them. Remember, you were that age once too. If your teen seems troubled, and you feel like you can't solve it, seek professional help. Talk to their doctor, to your pastor, to their guidance counselor or the school nurse. Look on the internet. Focus On The Family is a great resource for parents who want to build a relationship with their kids. Don't be their friend, be their PARENT. That is what they really want. If your teen rolls their eyes at you, they are listening. There is hope and there is help.
On the privacy issue: kids should not have as much privacy as adults do. Kids need protection and guidance. It's the paradox of being a kid. On the one hand, we want our parents to leave us alone, but on the other hand, we want them over our shoulder.
Granted, overbearing parents are just as bad as overly permissive parents (studies prove this). Parents need a happy medium. Unfortunately, today's world is a lot scarier and parents have to protect their kids from so much more than my parents had to when I was growing up (I'm almost 24). The happy medium of today is yesterday's overprotection. The lines are shifting and it leaves both the kids and the parents confused.
Now for the girl's roll in this: Kids are not robots. They have their own free will and make their own choices. Parents play a roll, but the kid makes the ultimate choice whether they want to be "good" or "bad" (mental illness notwithstanding). She has made a choice (consiously or unconsiously) to act psychotic. If she chooses to act on her delusions (which again, I hope and pray she doesn't), she will have to own up to her misdeed(s) and pay the consequences. Depending on where she lives and her age, her parents may have some consequences as well. The bottom line is that this girl needs some serious help. She needs to be put under the care of a competent psychiatrist ASAP, BEFORE she hurts someone.

America the Blind

There is a sad trend in America right now. People, some as young as 10 years old, are blindly swallowing what the media (television, print, entertainers) is telling them about their world. They idolize these figures and blindly follow whatever they say. The "do as I say, not as I do" mentality at its worst. Wake up!!! Just because someone puts out a great album or acts in an Oscar-winning movie, does not make that person any more knowledgable about current affairs as Joe Schmo walking down the street.
Case in point: Young Green Day fans. All these young people know about the world comes from American Idiot and MTV. If Green Day hates Bush, they're going to hate Bush -- and not even bother to find out why. If you ask them why they hate Bush, they'll tell you "because Billie Joe said so." That's not a valid reason. I don't even think Green Day would want someone to form an opinion based on a song from their record. They don't claim to be experts, so why do people take their word as an expert opinion???
I do not follow GD blindly. I disagree with their reasons to dislike Bush. I think Bush let down the Conservatives who elected him (by passing reckless pork-barreled spending bills), and his business partners have a monopoly on cushy government contracts. The one thing we have to remember about the Iraq war is that we NEVER hear about the good things we're doing. It's just not sexy. If we heard even 10% of the good things that are happening it would make the Left-wingnut peaceniks look like the buffoons they are. I personally think we should have waited longer between invasions of Afghanistan and Iraq, but Afghani AND Iraqi elections are worth way more than my discontent.
What the majority of America is failing to see (Green Day included) is that not everyone who enters the service is going to die while in the service. The media portrays military service as a death sentence and it's not. What they won't tell you is that the majority of military members who die never die in a combat zone. They die while on leave or liberty (liberty=after working hours or on a weekend). And it is usually their own fault (i.e. drunk driving, acting stupid, throwing the safety precautions they are trained to follow out the window). Most mishaps NEVER occur in a combat zone. Take that CNN!!!

A Rememberance of Fallen Friends

Robert Elortegui 1973-2005
Thomas Brantley 1978-2005
Nestor Otero 1978-2005

Though the words to the following song do not necessarily reflect the circumstances of my friends' deaths, I think of it when I think of them.

JAR (Jason Andrew Relva)
by Mike Pritchard

My friend drove off the other day
Now he's gone and all they say
Is you gotta live it up while life goes on
But now I see I'm mortal too
I can't live my life like you
Gotta live it up while life goes on

And I think it's alright
That I do what I like
Cause that's the way I wanna live
And so I give
And I'm still giving

Now I wonder about my friend
If he gave all he could give
Cause he lived his life
Like I live mine
If you could see inside my head
Then you'd start to understand
The things I value in my heart

You know that
I know that
You're watching me

Gotta make a plan
Gotta do what's right
Can't run around in circles
If you wanna build a life
But I don't wanna make a plan
For a day faraway
While I'm young
And while I'm able
All I wanna do is...

On September 28, 2005 I lost three friends and colleagues in a helicopter crash. I had known the two pilots for 2 years and the AW for about 9 months. My last work day I saw Mr. Elortegui and he was so full of life. He just announced to the shop (I was a PR) that he was engaged. We were surprised, but happy for him. I'll never forget his smile as he wished me luck in my post-Navy life. His smile was one of those that lit up a room. He was the kind of person who could cheer you up even if the world seemed like it was ending. Mr. Brantley was really nice as well. He and one of the other pilots looked a lot alike and checked in at the same time and I called them twins. When I'd see him, I'd tell Mr. Brantley, "Sir, I saw your twin today." He'd laugh and deny that they looked anything alike. I did not know Otero (as he liked to be called) very well. I trained him , and he was a nice guy. But what I do remember is that when he was with a certain other AW, all hell broke loose. These two would horse around and act like little kids and drive me crazy. The day I left I found out Otero was married.
At their memorial there were three helmets with their photos next to them. I could not look at them w/o crying. When the bagpipe player played Amazing Grace, I lost it. I still cannot talk about it w/o getting emotional. This was my squadron's second Class A mishap in 19 years. I am haunted by images of these three. When I see someone who resembles them, I look twice and then realise that I won't see them again on this side of Heaven. When I close my eyes, I can't get Mr. Elortegui's smile out of my head. I will miss them very much.

2005 has been a hard year filled with losses. In March, I lost my good friend and paintball buddy Alan. He was murdered. Then last month, I lost three friends in a helo crash. Two weeks prior, one of my husband's sister squadrons lost two pilots in a crash. 2005 is my 1983. In 1983, my mother (and I) almost lost my dad to a brain hemmorage and stroke. It was a very hard year for my mother. She had to care for me (I was 2) and my dad who needed a lot of care. Wake me up when September ends.