Our Ordinary American

[tabs]

Our ordinary American is a guy who strives to be successfull, wants to be successfull and works hard at it. Yet when push comes to shove he invariabley takes the easy way out. He avoids the confrontation, he avoids taking responsibilty, it just might all become too messy for him. He has feet of clay and doesn't dare to be great. He doesn't realize success is only gained by and through confrontation and taking responsibility. Its a one step at a time process.

By taking the easy way out he doesn't realize the long reaching consequences of his actions. Not only is he effecting himself, and compouding his own problems, but he is setting an example for his family in the futher. Once the problem comes home to roost in the futher, he will be bewildered as to how things could come to this. Where in the world did this come from. He will deny responsibilty even then and again avoid taking a good look at himself in the mirror. So keep on shuffling along, it has become the ordinary American way. But ultimately in the end it is sad, because the might have beens were so great.

[Tobra]

The grandchildren of the greatest generation have really dropped the ball eh?

[Seahawk]

Nope. I see the polar opposite every day.

Buckle up for the next greatest generation, Tabs.

[island911]

George Bush Lied. . .

When Clinton Lied, nobody died. . ..

Man is responsible for melting the ice caps. . . .

Saddam had no WMD . ..

We will run out of oil by 1996 . ..

toilets swirl the opposite direction south of the equator..

CO₂ is the #1 greenhouse gas ...

WOW it is easy being ordinary. . . and I don't think it's just 'cuz I'm 'n 'merican.

[tabs]

I will get off point with you, as my orginal meaning for this thread is not a look at generational failings, but the failure of AN indivdual which has not only indivdual consequences but generational ones as well. I am looking more to the future than the past.

However to digress...The Greatest Generation was warped by the Great Depression of the 1930's. It affected them to their very souls, the extreme economic deprivation, made them feel that it didn't matter what U felt, you just had to gut it out. That all would be well if you had material success, money in the bank brought peace of mind. The Greatest Generations failing was that they indulged their Children the Boomers. Their thinking was that they didn't want to have their Children go through the same thing they did, and as a consequence they indulged their children with the material while the spirtual went by the by. The Boomers rejected the material in search of some spirtual awakening through irresponsible excess. However since the Boomers were spoiled by Mommy and Daddy it all became about me and the Boomers morphed into the Yuppies...Generation X suffers from the flakiness of the Boomers, some have become lost along the way and others have dug their heals in and gotten on with the nitty gritty of life. I think they are looking for some kind of inner stabilty that they lacked while growing up.

[tabs]

U Boyz should know by now, that I am carefull in my choich of words. Singular vs Plural.

[Seahawk]

Originally posted by tabs
U Boyz should know by now, that I am carefull in my choich of words. Singular vs Plural.

U should know by now that your choich of words is a plethora of choich, random, meandering, a gallery of options.

I use Verizon.

[tabs]

I am very able at dodging the slings and arrow of the ignorant and ill informed thank U.

I use Sprint so what?

[Seahawk]

Originally posted by tabs
I am very able at dodging the slings and arrow of the ignorant and ill informed thank U.

I use Sprint so what?

It was a joke, Son. And I am neither ignorant nor ill informed. I can even spell.
Your call.

Cingular

[Taz's Master]

tabs, to lend credence to your argument you need to define the success the average American strives for. And the problem coming home to roost in the further.

[tabs]

Originally posted by Seahawk
I am neither ignorant nor ill informed. I can even spell.
Your call.

Cingular

Says U? I would love to hear your interpetation of what you think I am up to in this Thread??? I would like to see how well you can read subtlities relying on your knowledge of our recent history.

T Mobile

[tabs]

Originally posted by Taz's Master
tabs, to lend credence to your argument you need to define the success the average American strives for. And the problem coming home to roost in the further.

"Everybody can be a millionaire so everybodies gotta try"....Money, power, fame...the Good Life...to be upwardly mobile, maybe the expectation that by 45 or 50 you'd realize your potential and be the CEO of a large corporation. That kinda thing...

"If its good for the goose it is good for the gander" That your way of slipping responsibility will be picked up by the kids, as they learned it from U in oh so subtle ways.

[RANDY P]

It's not my fault.

rjp

[Por_sha911]

So Tabs, you are a model of the ordinary American doing something extraordinary?
The old expression goes something like this: "Never judge a man until you've walked a mile in his shoes"

[Tobra]

...and if he has little feet, you will limp the last half mile

shouldn't that be "affecting himself and compounding" ?

so by average to you mean mediocre or someone with an equal number of people "better" and "worse" than they happen to be?

Seahawk, your sample is skewed, in my experience, "average" people are not serving in the military.

[LakeCleElum]

Originally posted by tabs
"Everybody can be a millionaire so everybodies gotta try"....

The term "millionaire" is so outdated.....Back in the '50's it really meant something......Pure inflation and the real estate market has made millionaires of many that don't deserve to use the term!!!!!!!

[cantdrv55]

The US of A.

[livi]

tabs,

That is an insightful analysis of the species Homo sapience evolutionary survival strategy - brought, slightly bewildered and lost, into the 21 century.

[Taz's Master]

tabs, are you really saying that it doesn't matter if you win or lose, but that it's how you play the game?

[Groesbeck Hurricane]

I think the correct saying is:

Never judge a man until you've walked a mile in his shoes. That way you are a mile further away from him and he has no shoes.

Tabs,

I agree with your sentiment. The VAST majority of people I "meet"/see are in it for themselves. Watch the way they drive, watch the way the treat other people. I'm guilty of it myself, sometimes. I think it stems from a personal sense of uneasiness and a lack of going for ones dreams. Damn, I really should finish those two novels I started and quit hanging around here... But again, I get some good material for number three that will never be written either.