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Modern Morality
It's 88° today, the apartment pool is packed with kids. Which made me flash on the one thing about modern "morality" which hurts me the most. Today, a man, especially a man my age, who shows any interest in children is immediately looked at as a perverted child molester. I used to be able to compliment a kid, tell his or her parents they have a bright kid, or a cute kid, or a talented kid. Do that these days and 90% of the time they run screaming, certain there's a threat.
It's very sad. I like kids. I try to treat children as potential adults. They are people who haven't had time to build a huge vocabulary, or read a whole mess of books, or go a lot of places, but who probably will some day, and are interested in what's ahead of them and around them. Most kids I've talked to are intelligent, have opinions and dreams and beliefs, and are looking either for validation or a clue to where that proverbial different drummer hangs out.
But the days are over when I can sit down next to a kid on a park bench, listen to his dreams, debate his beliefs, or even get a younger second opinion on how I see the world. These days I'd get arrested.
I have no children of my own, my nieces and nephews are far away (and grown) and though I have 13 great-nieces and nephews, they are Israeli and (a) don't speak my language and (b) are too far away even if they did.
Makes me very sad to be missing out on that.
It's very sad. I like kids. I try to treat children as potential adults. They are people who haven't had time to build a huge vocabulary, or read a whole mess of books, or go a lot of places, but who probably will some day, and are interested in what's ahead of them and around them. Most kids I've talked to are intelligent, have opinions and dreams and beliefs, and are looking either for validation or a clue to where that proverbial different drummer hangs out.
But the days are over when I can sit down next to a kid on a park bench, listen to his dreams, debate his beliefs, or even get a younger second opinion on how I see the world. These days I'd get arrested.
I have no children of my own, my nieces and nephews are far away (and grown) and though I have 13 great-nieces and nephews, they are Israeli and (a) don't speak my language and (b) are too far away even if they did.
Makes me very sad to be missing out on that.
no subject
So here are some hints that may or may not help at the apartment, become friendly with the parents first. If your complex does a social mixer, show up and talk mostly to adults, being gently kid friendly.
If there is no organized mixer, see if you can organize one yourself. A BBQ is family friendly. If you have friends with kids, invite them to the bbq. This will be a further proof you are family friendly (you already have kid friends).
Anything to prove you are normal but just without children. The people who are positive your a pervert will stay away, but some will get to know you and like you.
Also invite adult female (and male) friends to the house. If nothing else DVDs and popcorn. Leave politely at midnight thanking for the movie. Again, it shows you are a Normal Male.
Also, never meet kids in any place other than wide open places with other eyes that can see you. Unless their parents are with them, they can never enter your apartment.
Unfortunately, We Know you are Mostly Harmless, but they just don't know you yet. And a single male is dangerous these days.
Course a lot of the perverts are Married Males, but that for some strange reason has not become part of people's mind view of perverts.
At Cons, get to know the kids there! Since we already know you are harmless, we'll let you get to know the kids! Hey, fans are like that, yeah we are.
no subject
Kids
Of course we all know that you have a heart of a child....