Random comments,
Even the most jaded teen with purple and black dyed hair, all black skull clothes and a big fat pout on her snout can still go "aaaawwwww" at my cute dog, with her Dad, in public.
Teenagers live in an alternate universe where it makes sense to be the last to take something out of a trunk and forget to close it; where being asked if your towel is dry has nothing to do with the fact that it is the towel you need for swimming and should be put into your bag for the day.
They also live in a universe that notices that the Universal Declaration of Human Rights does not allow for gay marriage, maybe....the book we have here says, "All men and women have the right to get married and start a family, once they've reached a certain age. It doesn't matter what race, nationality or religion they are. A man and a woman can only get married if they both want to."
Now, it doesn't actually say that men cannot marry men, and women cannot marry women, but it does imply heterosexual marriage.
Maybe teens live in a universe where they are looking at the big picture and not really sweating the details. Their Moms and Dads are still around enough to keep the ants/rats/pestilence away when they never do dishes, and to make sure they have the towels for swimming, so they get to focus on the good stuff.
Like the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.
Teens are pretty cool.
They are also just a little bit weird.
Cheers,
O
8 comments:
They are apparently not programmed to replace the toilet paper when it runs out either.
Mine seems to have that programming, there are other losses though, like cleaning up any space she has littered up after a mear five minute presence.
There's a bonus to living with teens - they provide a unique (fascinating!) perspective on life!
As well as occasionally driving you a wee bit crazy... ;)
Does your dog's head bobbing not indicate he has ear mites? My cousin claims that's a sure sign!
Fascinating to read your take on teens and family life - hope you all come out with a better understanding of each other! GM
One of the nice things about the teen perspective is that things we think are very radically modern, they think are not advanced enough. Isn't that idealism great!?
As for the language, I bet that last sentence involved a big compromise in a committee somewhere.
Odd, I might not have lived in the Teeniverse. I always closed trunks, and used dry towels to go swimming.
For your Universal Declaration of Human rights, your book does imply heterosexual marriage by "A man and a woman can only get married if they both want to".
However, I looked at both the French and English official text from the UN's website:
http://www.un.org/en/documents/udhr/
And it says, right there:
Article 16.
(1) Men and women of full age, without any limitation due to race, nationality or religion, have the right to marry and to found a family. They are entitled to equal rights as to marriage, during marriage and at its dissolution.
(2) Marriage shall be entered into only with the free and full consent of the intending spouses.
(3) The family is the natural and fundamental group unit of society and is entitled to protection by society and the State.
Meaning, IMHO, that heterosexual marriage is not implied. "intending spouses" is gender neutral. French translation is also gender-neutral.
Beth, they are fascinating....honestly, I love my teen, and like her too!
GM, we're hanging in, I don't think he has mites...maybe though.
JG, the language, it does seem very very carefully worded....
ElP, GOt two thumbs up from Eldest, and I have to agree...on first read it can look hetero, but when you look it doesn't say that men and women are necessarily marrying each other.
I agree with your humble opinion.
I lived through raising 3 teens- and survived with my sense of humor intact!
I once saw a bumper sticker which read, "Hire a teenager while they still know it all." Yep, that about sums it up...
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