IP: RE: More on the HellMouth

[Dave Farber <farber () cis upenn edu>]

> Thank you for forwarding that set of messages! You can send this one to the
> IP list if you desire, or use in in print. Just sign my name as Bearitone.
>
> I'm 38.5, now, and married for over 15 years to a wonderful woman I met in
> college at UC Berkeley. I've learned to live with curly hair. But I'm still
> overweight, don't play tennis or golf or run, and would never be invited to
> join a country club..... my story:
>
> A long time ago, in a city just across the bay.....
>
> I hated my San Francisco junior high years - fortunately, I skipped 8th
> grade, and was only in for 2 years.  And I learned quickly to exact a
> measure of my own when I was thrown down and beaten up -- A small jeweler's
> screwdriver can cause LOTS of damage and still be hidden in your shoe before
> the dean breaks up the fight - and I've never told anyone about that.
>
> But I had my singing to keep me sane, and lots of science fiction and
> science books, and one or two very inspiring teachers. And dreams of talking
> to Polly Meyer or Paula Schuppel.
>
> And by the time I got to high school anyone who started anything with me got
> a cold, hard stare for half a minute -- and they usually backed down. I also
> joined the fencing team, and we used to practice with umbrellas in the
> central plaza; that discouraged people too.
>
> But it wasn't, and isn't, easy.
>
> Frankly, I blame the parents. on both sides. Those whose sons were making
> bombs in the garage and those whose sons were taunting schoolmates.
>
> I think that the one constant throughout all these events is a set of
> parents - or a single parent - out of touch with their children, having also
> abdicated their responsibility to teach the basics of courtesy to the kids.
>
> Do I have kids? No. But I'm the oldest of five, and had the lion's share of
> the raising of my four siblings - INCLUDING teaching them right from wrong.
> And though we aren't a model family, at least we know to treat others with
> respect.
>
> That is what is missing from families. the basics of respect and caring
> for/about others. For if the parents don't care about kids, where do kids
> learn to care about others?