16 the NEW 30!

I think teenagers today can't seem to wait to grow up. You see so many of them totting mobiles, leading a busier than an executive's life, rushing from one place to another, getting involved in serious relationship(s)..... about the only thing they don't do is drive a car ... and that is also because they are legally not allowed to.

Did I lead such a life when I was 16? Definitely no! Cos for one, I had no mobile. Moreover I think we were busy being teenagers! And those days the mobile was so BIG! Real tai-kor tai and really-really expensive. We'd consider ourselves lucky if we had a house phone! And phone calls were only if necessary for my parents did not have deep pockets.

Take the 16 year old today... they're constantly thumbing their mobile. You'd think that they are running corporations from the way they hang on to their phones. I think most of them will say 'can die if no phone'. And to them, one sen a sms is SO cheap! And what kind of messages do they send??? Typical smses....wad r u doin - nuthin-wad - nuthin - ok - g'night - wad?. Such kind of messages can run into the tens. And many of them send up to 100 smses a day or...some even more! I wonder if they realize that this SO cheap money also comes from their parents. Of course SO cheap since they don't have to earn it. Which is why I am beginning to think that these teenagers shouldn't be given car license.... better they earn their own and learn with their own earnings. That way, maybe they won't be trigger free like this!

A friend of mine related this story..his son took them to a grand makan which cost a bomb. Well, what he said was really cute.... "I won't spend so much on a meal like this but my son got money cos his father got money."... that's what it's like these days. Parents scrooge and save and the kids spend without much thought.... no self-control, maybe??

Then the rushing here, there. You'd think that they've business meetings to attend, clients to meet but alas, it's to their tuition classes. And these tuition classes are often followed by the 'business' makan.... cos no time to go home and eat, you see.... so these makan turn into group makan(s).... it's like entertaining clients... only it does not generate any $$$ but got outflow of $$$.... So the makan and meeting with the birds of the same feather take place! Ah! The parents' pockets continue to take a beating! This process of spoon feeding helps them get their A(s) but does not make them any smarter cos they don't have to think much.... it's learning by rote. BTW, if you have time, read this take on the decline of the modern day kid in problem solving. He! He! It's true!! We are smarter than our kids! How's that for vindication! (grinning from ear to ear) Hence, our graduates have all the qualifications but very little ability to solve problems.

Feelings! They don't call it that now. Emo is how you label yourself if you are feeling the blues...actually it's supposed to mean demonstrated feelings. But originally the word emo was used to describe some hardcore punk music. So being emo is associated with all those feelings associated with such music...suicidal, depression, self-injury. Aiyo... it's a bit scary, don't you think? To be emo is another very in-thing for this NEW 30s.

Then the urge to be like everyone else who is supposedly 30. You see, when you are 30 and you have no gf/bf, then your parents, ah kong, ah ma.. the whole jing gang family will start to worry. So, these juveniles who think that they are 30 feel that it's of utmost importance that they 'kepit' themselves with gf/bf so that they fit into this NEW 30 social scheme.... sigh! Aging before their time. And the parents, ah kong, ah ma... all of them get man-chang (worried) before their time also....... see the vicious cycle here???And here we have, all those of us who are hitting 40 going for SK-II to get a bit of that lost youth.... young trying to be old... old trying to be young. LOL!

16 the NEW 30.... My other half told me this caption.... I am living with a 16 year old. I think it's true. Apart from the rushing from one place to another cos he doesn't attend so many tuitions (but he's beginning to be more tempted to cos he says his friends get to hang out for their 'business dinners'), I've this to say... these 30 year old wannabes... they're missing out on being 16...aiyo..... once it's gone.... it's gone..poof!!!. 30 will come and when it comes when you are ready... it'll be more meaningful and fun! Right now, they may think they are ready but ownself still tak boleh jaga... how to live like a 30 year old. Got a lot of responsibilities, lor! Some more pocket cannot generate $$$$. Still have to depend on parents to do the doling.

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3. Enjoy Them Before Their Growing Pains Get To You
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