I was asked, today, if I had ever considered going back to school and receiving training to become a therapist or social worker. I was polite and thanked the individual making the statement - outwardly. Inwardly I chuckled to myself, thinking that was the most incongruous idea I'd ever heard. Here's why.
My generation grew up with some pretty extrinsic methods of discussion or demonstrating sought-after behavior. If these physical or verbal expressions were used today by an individual, that person would run the risk of becoming the focal point of a lawsuit, being 'unfriended' on social-networking sites, or, perhaps, being arrested.
Take for example the archaic practice of the affronted wife grabbing the earlobe of the offending husband and dragging the chagrined man to a chair where he would receive a tongue-lashing. This scenario happened frequently in Sixties and Seventies sit-coms, but in real-life today? Fugedaboudit.
During my formative years if I was crying and making a fuss one or both of my parents would announce to me that I should stop blubbering or they'd give me something to cry about. Not real empathic. Effective? Yes. In real-life today? Fugedaboudit.
How about the attitude towards women that many men in my father's generation espoused? "Keep 'em barefoot and pregnant." Neanderthal? Most certainly. Disrespectful? Definitely. In real-life today? Fugedaboudit.
What relationships today are based upon, I do not know. The relationships of yore were often based upon "Me Tarazan, You Jane" - a familial structure that would, nor should, never fly between contemporary adults. Today's relationships often seem constructed out of sand, much like the house in the Bible that washed away. I don't know where the happy medium is but I am too old to go back to school and find out. I'll leave that to the anthropologists. If we study a few more primates we'll figure things out anyway. In the meantime, let's just jump up and down and throw bananas at one another.
Perhaps I should fugedaboudat as well.
Ancora imparo
