This Started With Pants...

It was hot today. Everyone riding around with their windows up and a/c on blast. Myself and maybe a handful of other fuel-conscious individuals have our windows down, enjoying the breeze that increases with acceleration. Back in the days of my ol' '94 Civic having the windows down was absolutely necessary. The entire eight years I owned that car it NEVER had air conditioning. Windows down and cruising at a good speed was my a/c. Heaven forbid she start overheating... Here is the equation: Me + 1994 Honda Civic + 100 degree heat (Southern California) - A/C + overheating radiator x 1-5 (level of the heater being on to pull heat from the engine) / miles to destination = Unhappy Guy (r 0 patience). Thank goodness that I DO have a/c this time 'round, but with these gas prices I'll have to make do with fresh air from outside. At least that's free, for now.

So I'm cruising down the street and to my right I see a young man walking down the sidewalk with his shirt off. It's hot, if I was out there walking I would do the same thing... then again, probably not. With this gut I'd look like some silly cartoon character walking down the street.

On the other side of the street a bit further down I see another young man walking towards a bus stop, also with his shirt off. This young man though, has his pants down around his thighs and wearing bright red underwear. I remember this style from back when I was in high-school, and that was over 15 years ago. It was one that I occasionally engaged in myself, but never that low. I've always had skinny legs, so just keeping pants on my waist was challenge enough.

For a brief second my fury flashed on and then off. "PULL YOUR F*CKIN' PANTS UP!" is what I wanted to scream at the top of my lungs. The emotions caught me off guard. It felt as though I had heard someone else yell it, and I was just a bystander shaking my head in embarrassment. There have been a few instances when mental composure has gone from arctic to volcanic in the blink of an eye. After separating from the military it was based more on what someone would say, disrespected me in some way, in my opinion. Now, even if I see something that is not right to me I mentally explode. What I would like to do is say something, but there's a part of me that tells me keep to the mission at hand. So I tend to carry on, letting that agitation simmer, the lid lifting up every now and then to let off steam. As I continue to try to understand my own disorders I am more apt try to break something down instead of just coming up with an opinion.

Subject: This guy

The Issue: Wearing his pants completely off his ass.

Reason: 1) Stupid kid 2) Saw someone else doing it and though it was cool. 3) Purposely perpetuating a stereotype 4) Pant legs are too short 5) Pant waist is too big 6)Quickly outgrowing his clothes 7) Pants falling down as he runs to catch the bus.

Regardless of the reason, the young man looked ridiculous. I can only assume that he was unaware of this, otherwise his pants would have been properly on him. I can empathize with him. When I was about his age I was trying to wear similar items (to the extent that the Marine Corps allowed), and although it looked "tight" to me. As I look back to it now I ask myself "What in the hell was I thinking wearing that?"
What is the motivation behind these appearances? I can say it has a lot to do with the music. The young people will try to emulate those people that they see as either role models or voices of their respective generation. When you are put in the limelight you are judged on your ideals, actions, intentions, words, and appearance. Each generation has it's individuals that take heed to this and proceed cautiously, understanding the level of influence they hold. Others tend to take the responsibility and live recklessly, thus influencing others in a "monkey see, monkey do" type of following. Young minds are very impressionable, although the blame does not fall solely on these influential persons. The home and community are an even larger force for molding the youth.

......?

"PULL YOUR F*CKIN' PANTS UP!" Someone should have told him that before walking out the door. It's embarrassing, frustrating, demeaning, and a whole lot of other negative words. Me, as a black person, and seeing another black person being the stereotype...I felt the fury bubbling up. My parents, and their parents, and their parents. We all go through it. Make fun the previous generation, do what "our generation" thinks is cool, hear the previous generation tell us how ridiculous we are being, ignore them 'cause we think we know, finally see what the previous generation was talking about, attempt to tell the following generation that they are just ridiculous.

I think contributing factors to the corruption of current and following generations are: 1) technology 2) reality television 3) previous generations. In brief here how I see it; technology makes people "soft" as things become more convenient. A good example is in the movie "Wall-E" where the people have all become large and their bones separated due to lack of any physical activities.

Reality television has given us such an askew ed vision of the world that we begin to believe that "reality" television is "real". Perfect example: "16 and Pregnant" on MTV (which funny enough, no longer promotes itself as "Music Television", even dropping the "Music Television" pretty much glorifies teenage pregnancy with new seasons, a spin-off called "Teen Mom", and even reunion shows. The tabloids add fuel to the fire by focusing on these young people as though they are celebrities. The sizeable about of financial compensation these ladies receive for their participation in the shows from MTV and the overnight almost-celebrity statuses have led to other young ladies to make the poor choice to become pregnant in an attempt at becoming one of those few that actually are subject matter for this show. Lives altered, made difficult, all for the chance to be on a flash in the pan show that panders to the minds of the impressionables.

Our and previous generations are to blame as well. Technology and all these other influences do not just appear out of thin air. It is the older generations that make the products that these young consumers clamour for. Our minds so focused on what will make the money they quickest, what is the next "big thing", and a struggle to "keep up with the Joneses".
Education and guidance are extremely important, but not as important as the money I could make off of all these materials that I can for into this item that someone just "has got to have"!

"PULL YOUR F*CKIN' PANTS UP!"

"TUCK YOUR SHIRT IN!"

"TAKE THAT HAT OFF IN THIS HOUSE!"

"TURN OFF THAT EVIL ROCK AND ROLL!"

I have no definite solution, as it appears to be something that has to just run it's course. Like a train going down the track, picking up, dropping off, carrying on, through time.