When Those Damn Kids Grow Up (December 3, 1996)

When the hell did I get so old? When did the childish pranks of highschoolers become my biggest irritent, when they use to be my hobby? When exactly did ignoring someone replace snappy retorts in an argument? Have I lost all my guts? Have I gone soft?

I'm not sure... but this I know is true... now that I stand back as an "adult" and look at the kids all around me, my sister, her friends, the kids at work, the kids that call my show, and I realized that I am no longer one of them.

Aw, hell, I used to be a kid. I used to get a laugh out of it when those stupid kids sprayed stuff on my back and tried to light me on fire. I've played the psyc-out game. I used to be cool about drugs and alchol and sex and smoking. But now I am just contemptious of the whole ball of wax. How did I become a tight-ass without noticing?

Maybe it was all the rubber cement and whipits. Maybe I'm just cranky and irritated and a little jelous.

Maybe I am more mature now? Could it be that I have passed through some sort of adult rite of passage by turning down these 'temptations' of childhood? Or could it be that the child labor board lets all those snots go at ten, and I get stuck by my self till 12 am? Definatly bitter...

I found myself condeming my sisters friends for things that my friends do? But my friends are also over 21. Does that make me a hypocrite? Because I can see if they are drinking and smoking at a legal age, but not at age 16. Or is it just that I accept my friends more than hers, and are willing to overlook thier flaws?

This isn't as much a commentary this month as a question. A question I would like all of you to ponder. For those underage kids out there: When you veiw 'adults' in you mind, did it ever occur to you that they were once kids too?

And to the adults out there: When you sneer at those kids that are messing up your lawn, or egging your car, have you forgoten that used to be you?