Back In MY Day…

There was a 2 part series in the sports section of the San Francisco Chronicle that I read online yesterday and today. The topic was about how today’s baseball starting pitchers are handled much differently than in past eras in baseball history.

This got my brain whirling as I considered that while this is true in baseball, it’s also true in virtually all of society these days. The writer of the articles to which I’m referring is not a proponent of how things are done these days. He believes today’s pitchers are babied and conditioned to only go about 60% as far as their professional forefathers. I tend to agree, and I also agree that this is not a good thing. However, the debate was strong. People commented saying that the economics of the game are much different in this era, and thus, management is more protective of their human assets.

I tend to be on the side of the writer. I believe that we have become soft in trying to put people in bubble wrap hoping nothing bad will ever happen. This is where my inner “old fart” comes out. You see, when I was growing up, we rode our bikes without wearing helmets! We watched the 3 Stooges without poking our friends’ eyes out. Our parents weren’t afraid to leave us alone at home while they went to the store. We didn’t have to ride in car seats. Heck, we didn’t even use seat belts! And we lived to blog about it!

OK, I’m not saying that seatbelts, car seats and such are bad. I just think that we’ve become so paranoid that we have over-legislated life. These things aren’t just suggested or recommended…they’re law. Oh, when driving, we have to wear a headphone so you can talk on the phone hands free? How convenient! Now that means I have a free hand to eat my hamburger and fries…while talking on the phone…while driving. This is still legal…for now.

Bad things happen. I do believe in being wise in protecting children, ourselves and others. But I don’t think you need me to tell you that you could wear a suit of armor and not be safe from morons and random freak accidents. Life happens. Morons happen. There isn’t a car seat, seat belt or helmet in existence to protect you from everything.

To make sure I’m completely understood in what I’m saying, I’m not suggesting we throw caution to the wind and just set kids on the roof of the car on family trips. I’m just saying that I wish we’d relax a little and not be so darned paranoid. When I used to lead a church youth group, I was criticized by one of the parents of a high school junior because I encouraged them to read the paper and watch the news to learn about current events in our city, state, country and world and apply what they’re learning about God to these events. This parent was upset because he wanted to shield his kid from all the “negative” stuff. Nice. This kid was 2 years from being in college, and she had no idea what was going on in the world because her dad wouldn’t let her learn for herself.

The protest era of the 60s and 70s is causing major problems today. While the teens and twentysomethings of the 60s found “free love” to be their goal, they also discovered the power of protest, intimidation and fear tactics. Now this generation is trying to ban fast food! C’mon. Really?

I guess that will take care of being able to eat while driving

While this post may seem like a complete contradiction of yesterday’s, I do miss the “old days” of us taking personal responsibility for our own actions. I fear where we’re headed.