Ok, here is the warning. This is a generalized rant. I know you all know exceptions to what I am going to say; even better, I know exceptions. But I still want/need to rant.
Yes, I read the book The Fast Food Nation and that is not what this is about. That is what I call a younger generation - twenties into early thirties. You all know them....they were raised via the drive thru's...and therefore expect immediate satisfaction.....
1. It is the young woman who are opting for c/sections because they don't want to 'feel the pain' of labor and delivery and who opt out of pregnancy when they 'are tired of being pregnant'. These are the women who only hear what they want to - pain medication and no labor.....they don't hear the part that describes abdominal surgery and the fact that the pain comes afterwards and usually lasts longer than those who opted for vaginal deliveries...And oh by the way, it is the medications fault if it does not IMMEDIATELY take away all the pain because it is expected to act immediately because, well, that is what you expect when you live in the Fast Food Nation.
2. And these same women are very disappointed when their bodies don't become like they were when they were not pregnant. Someone also forgot to tell them - or they forgot to listen - that they are not like the celebrities they are copying - they don't have people air brushing their photos - nannies raising their children - a trainer that gets them back into shape immediately - a cook to cook only healthy food for them - and the surgeon who does all that touch up surgery before they hit the public eye again...
3. These are the same people who apparently never listened to anyone who tried to explain "if it sounds/looks too good to be true, it probably is". They are the ones who jumped right into buying overpriced houses in areas they really didn't want to live - using the ARM because of course they only planned to own the house until they doubled their investment in oh, 1 - 2 years, so that they could afford the house of their dreams. And when the market crashed, what did they do? Walked away from the houses because they weren't worth it any more....foreclosures and short sales. Gumming up the system from those who needed the system because of job losses/major life changes, and things that were out of their control. And the best part? They are ANGRY at the people who advised them not to buy, and those who were not hurt or did not give up....
4. These are the people who CAN NOT be separated from their cell phones/iPads/whatever for a single second of any day because OMG they might miss something important - from someone else or more importantly that they need to share....What?! Their talking (loudly cause apparently cell phones don't have the same connection as telephones do) bothers you? You actually think that being polite to people working the cash registers, etc, is more important that what is going on in their lives? And you know, those posted signs are NOT meant for them.....or maybe they cant read those signs because they use complete words instead of Internet shorthand? (BTW, I really don't care what is happening in your world - and your having a cell phone attached to your body really does not make you an important/interesting person automatically)
5. I have heard that some schools are/considering not even teaching cursive writing anymore because this Fast Food Nation can only read printing because that is what comes through when you text and type on a computer. So that means they will not be able to read any historical documents from the past centuries - unless some learned elder transposes everything into printing.
I can, and probably will, add to this over time. This was precipitated by many things - the patients who will not/cannot get of the phone for the nurses to take care of them (after all - why do they need that - all the information they need can be found on the Internet and not from trained personnel).....the person at the gym who thinks the signs about cell phone usage means everyone but them because of course they are more important than anyone else....the person who holds up the line at the store because talking on the phone is more important than listening to what the clerk is trying to explain to you....