Travel observations

We've touched on the pleasures and education of travel in previous posts, and I got to enjoy a bit of that last weekend with a trip to Washington DC to spend the weekend with my fellow Brothers3arewe blog authors. It will a fun-filled weekend including the new blog picture and the one for this post.

One of the things I like about traveling is if I choose to be observant there are so many interesting things happening, especially in airports. 2 notable ones from this trip:

1. I was in the Cedar Rapids airport waiting for my flight and watched a young father feed his newborn a bottle. His wife was sitting next to him crying. Why? Because he was in fatigues, obviously heading off to fulfill his military service. First, I am so thankful that there are men and women in our country who are willing to make such sacrifices so that I can continue to enjoy the freedoms that I have. And second, having two little girls, I can't imagine having to leave them for any extended period of time.

2. A sign of the times: I was walking through the United terminal in Chicago O'Hare airport. There was a family walking, two parents and a son maybe 8 or 9 years old. Right in front of us was the enormous replica of a brachiosaurus skeleton. It is really cool to me, and I've walked by it probably a hundred times. Well this kid had no idea that it was even there. Why?...because he had seen a WiFi sign hanging in front of the replica and was begging his parents to get his iPad out so he could get online. W-O-W!!!

Ed on Sexualizing Kids

This is a really important issue, and one where it is really easy to find polarizing sides. But in the interest of dialogue and discussion I'm going to share my perspective. I would preface it by saying that it is a conservative view.

I recognize the differences in how generations perceive these changes. Young generations say it isn't any different than when in the 60's women quit wearing bras, or how skirt lengths have shortened in booming economic cycles. Tattoo's used to be taboo, earrings for men were only if you were gay, blah, blah, blah. The evolution of what is acceptable to wear, what is acceptable to say, and what is acceptable to do has continued to widen. Inhibition and social restriction has been reduced substantially in our "I can do whatever I want" age.

Now I'm for free speech, free expression and independence. But that doesn't mean that I will let my children go unrestrained and uneducated about the consequences of taking full advantage of that independence. I don't think kids today (wow, that sounds old) realize the perceptions that others have of them, perceptions that are hard to change, when they choose to wear what they do, act how they act, and say what they say. For every one's sake, lets hope they "grow out of it". But I don't think they will. I don't think they will because they aren't be educated about the consequences of their actions. Eventually maybe they will, but by then it will be too late.

Holly and I have tried to instill in our kids strong self perception, and a solid recognition that others will form opinions about you based on your actions, your words, and how you act. If you dress like a slut, look and talk like a thug, or treat people disrespectfully then others will forge an impression of you as just that. If, on the other hand, you treat others with respect and act in a respectful and gracious fashion, they will also form a first impression of you but one that will be positive. It works both ways!

Holly and I can't change the world or what others teach their kids, but we certainly can have a significant impact on what our kids do, who they hang out with, and what they wear. And it's our responsibility as their parents to educate them regarding the importance of the decisions they make.

And I'm happy to report that "so far, so good". We aren't out of the woods yet since our kids are just entering their teen years, but at least to date we've been very pleased that our kids have made the right choices given the knowledge and guidance of the consequences of their decisions.

Sexualizing Kids

I could easily do three weeks of research and make this another legendary Marco Treatise, but I'll try to keep it short.

But before I start, a short comment on "Enchanted Piranha". The first thing that came to mind for me was some of the t-shirts that I've seen in foreign countries where they do NOT speak English. Someone comes up with the idea that they could sell some clothing if they put English words on them, so you see something nonsensical like "You drink sun dog milk cool has fun". Where did you buy that bike? Korea??

Now on to "sexualization"... Perhaps you've seen this op-ed piece by LZ Granderson. I think it qualifies for the designation as "viral" because I've seen it posted by bunches of people on Facebook (don't know if you've heard of that website Brad) and have also received it via email.

I don't understand why we as a culture are "sexualizing" at such a young age. To be honest, I'm pretty appalled every time I go to the shopping mall, both by what I see for sale and also what I see being worn by girls that are 12 or even 10 years old. I hold up what is supposed to be shorts, and they appear to be about the size of a folded-up napkin. The only limiter to how short they have become is the actual requirement for the crotch to start somewhere. To be fair, it's not just girls. I'm tired of seeing every boy's boxer shorts because either he's wearing his jeans around his knees or he's wearing super low cut jeans. White skin-tight tank tops are not acceptable for wandering around the mall.

Why would you let your teenage daughter leave the house in hoochie shorts and a t-shirt that says "You know I'm hot"? Why would you let your teenage son leave the house with a t-shirt that says "Drunk girls think I'm hot"? Why would you put a t-shirt on a BABY (a baby!) that says "I'm a tits man", "Proof that my Mommy likes to fuck", or "All my Daddy wanted was a blowjob"? When did prom dresses need to become sexy?

I don't have the slightest clue how to fix it, I really don't. But I'm curious to hear what your reactions are as fathers with daughters. I can't imagine the challenges of raising children, and in particular girls, in the world that we live in today.

I don't ask these questions or make these comments as some prude that is appalled at the sight of a bare shoulder or knee in public. But I seriously have to ask the question, where do we draw the line? We've all heard the phrase "Sex sells" for a long time, but I always assumed that applied to adults, not children.

Enchantment Piranha

Sheila and I are getting Sasha her first bike for Easter. It is a beauty: pink, lavender and white with streamers on the handlebars and plenty of little girl swankiness. There is however one oddity...the name. You read it right, Enchantment Piranha. Take a look at this picture, does this bike say Enchantment Piranha to you?

I'll be the lady in the blue t-shirt

Nice work Iowa City paper! If someone ever tries to give me the PLAGUE, I'm going to kindly decline.

After seeing your post, I noticed this picture in our local paper. They have some crack reporters writing captions.

What does an Editor do?

Mom and Dad like to rail on the Oelwein Daily Register, which seems to be rife with errors for the most basic mistakes. Well everyone, its not just small town papers. I want to first start by saying I refuse to read the local paper in Iowa City, the IC Press Citizen. I don't read it because it is so anti-University and their "journalists" are not bound by any obligation to have credible, factual information in their articles. That being said, we still get the paper delivered to our house on the weekends, as it is combined with the Des Moines Register.

I just happened to glance through the ICPC today, which by the way is an "award winning" paper. I took interest in the picture and caption because I used to play basketball all the time with the principal in the picture. As I read the caption, two ridiculous errors were immediately noticed. The principal was presented a "plague" and the statue was made of stamped "cooper".

So my takeaway is that as Editor your job is to press spell check in Microsoft Word. Clearly they aren't reading the content or these errors would have been quickly caught.

This is award winning journalism?

That's a lot of countries!...Travel Bug part 2

So I asked you guys to send me your list of visited countries. I compiled our lists and came up with 39 countries.

That list does however have some room for debate. I listed Puerto Rico although that is a US territory not an independent country. Also listed by Ed were Scotland and Wales, which according to a quick Google search it is debatable whether they are independent countries.

Whether is is 39 or 36, that's still a lot of countries for some small town Iowa boys.