Grocery Shopping
I saw something today that really worried me. I don't mean worried in the sense that oh, it bugged me for a sec and then I shrugged it off. I mean seriously worried, as in concern for the future of the human race...
I was in the frozen food aisle stocking up on insta-meals, when my attention was drawn to the group of three standing next to me. This kid, about 12 or 13, had thrown himself against the door of one of the cases, laid/stood there for a second, and then started laughing like a lunatic. Apart from being slightly annoyed at that point, I didn't think anything of it. Then came the time when I was walking out to the parking lot, and they were right behind me. The kid was engaged in a continuous stream-of-consciousness monologue. Now, otherwise, he looked fine - fully clothed, etc. And he was speaking with a New York accent. He was talking really loudly and laughing a lot, but his mom and grandmother (I'm assuming) weren't responding. Except his "mom", who seemed rather amused by the antics...
There's what happened. Now what gets me is this. For awhile, I was wondering if the kid was mentally handicapped. Then I evaluated dress and general demeanor, and I realized that there was a very good chance that the kid was not, in fact, mentally retarded. He was just acting like a jackass...and the authority figures that he was with were doing nothing to stop it.
This is what worries me. Our society has degenerated to the point where someone can exhibit behavior that normally would be associated with some kind of mental disorder, when they're fully cognisant of their actions, and it's regarded as okay. Or, here it is another way: It worries me when I see someone acting that way, and I really can't tell whether they're just acting like a dick, or actually have a problem...
I was in the frozen food aisle stocking up on insta-meals, when my attention was drawn to the group of three standing next to me. This kid, about 12 or 13, had thrown himself against the door of one of the cases, laid/stood there for a second, and then started laughing like a lunatic. Apart from being slightly annoyed at that point, I didn't think anything of it. Then came the time when I was walking out to the parking lot, and they were right behind me. The kid was engaged in a continuous stream-of-consciousness monologue. Now, otherwise, he looked fine - fully clothed, etc. And he was speaking with a New York accent. He was talking really loudly and laughing a lot, but his mom and grandmother (I'm assuming) weren't responding. Except his "mom", who seemed rather amused by the antics...
There's what happened. Now what gets me is this. For awhile, I was wondering if the kid was mentally handicapped. Then I evaluated dress and general demeanor, and I realized that there was a very good chance that the kid was not, in fact, mentally retarded. He was just acting like a jackass...and the authority figures that he was with were doing nothing to stop it.
This is what worries me. Our society has degenerated to the point where someone can exhibit behavior that normally would be associated with some kind of mental disorder, when they're fully cognisant of their actions, and it's regarded as okay. Or, here it is another way: It worries me when I see someone acting that way, and I really can't tell whether they're just acting like a dick, or actually have a problem...