Note to Millennials and others

​I know it is hard to believe but your parents, your grandparents, your pastor, priest and rabbi were not stupid.  True, they weren't on Facebook and they didn't Tweet.  Believe it or not, they did believe in freedom and they knew its joys.  However, just like you, they learned, one way or another, that life is better with the right disciplines in it.  Some discipline about thrills and seeking them, some discipline about tolerance for the very ideas and behavior that you have already totally proved to be wrong for yourself and all others, some discipline for picking yourself up time after time and starting over on what really needs to be worked on, some discipline for recognizing that some things have been tried enough and need to be dropped and unlearned. 

I realize any large group is not uniform and that some of you have very different needs from those I am pointing to here.  It is possible to be too rigid, too disciplined and if  that applies, you need to relax a little.  I mostly urge you to keep your eyes open for whatever you are convinced is wrong or stupid and check every now and then to see if you might have overlooked any part of that which isn't so bad, which be a good idea to tolerate or even adopt.  Just because your father believed something doesn't guarantee that it is all wrong.

Secondly, I bring you some tough-to-swallow news.  It is something that every eager, energetic, intelligent ready-to-go teacher has to learn.  (Don't scoff just yet: we are all teachers at various times and places throughout life.) The hard news is that YOU CAN'T DO IT ALL RIGHT!  Parenting, teaching, political activity, management - they all involve complexity and individual difference and independent thinking to the point that no matter how lovingly or carefully or scientifically you carry out your mission, you cannot avoid some mistakes, some criticisms, some false moves.  Besides, as you may have already seen, you may get a bitter criticism today for something that you are thanked for next year or next decade.  As the Roman gladiators said to the emperor, "we who are about to die salute you" and we wish you joy and the best of fortune.  We already know that you will make some mistakes and we stand ready to console you.

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Bill
Main blog: Fear, Fun and Filoz
Main web site: Kirbyvariety

Twitter: @olderkirby