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I really wish I could have grabbed some pics, it would have told the whole story.
So some family has built not too far from us. They came up during the hurricane. They are nice folks who like to have others around, entertain others, etc. A "blended" family with the man having one son that's now late 20's and the woman having two kids- 18 or so and 16'ish. Previously they have stayed at another relatives place and in times past, have thought nothing of dragging friends of the kids up as well.
Typically Americant family- all about the "fun" with the kids, never taught them crap, never taught responsibility. Holdovers from the retarded baby boomer "just keep the kids HAPPY and everything will work out" non sense parenting approach. Dad/step Dad is very hard working, the Mom/step Mom is no slacker either. The kids however are rarely asked/made to do anything. As they were growing up, we watched as it was "all about the fun" and that was repeated over and over again. Yet somehow when they turn 16 or 18 they are supposed to know how to work and get a job. Yes, after years of babying, not being made to do anything, they are just going to wake up on their 16th birthday with a work ethic! This has made things odd at times during family gatherings because we have always strove to teach responsibility, respect for other people's stuff, etc. to our child. I'm sure it's been confusing before to see some little brats making ruts in family property with ATVs and not having to rake them out, meanwhile we are requiring our son to pick up after himself, help out both at home and at older relatives house. The older relatives (baby boomers where the "keep kids happy and everything will work out" BS came from), were YEARS AGO fine with the shenanigans of the blended family's kids- I mean they were kept happy right so who cares if they were pi$$ing off everyone with the constant ATV noise, the destruction of property that others had worked hard on, etc. They were happy and not (directly) bothering them so it was all good.
As people get older they tend to get more crotchety. Well that's happened with the older relatives and NOW it's a big deal when the ATVs start up, when the ruts are made in fields and manicured grassy areas, etc. We can only sit back and smile and wonder why that wasn't a problem when it was OUR piece of land that was being abused!
Anywhoo, so that's part of the back story to show where this is based on.
So it's a few days before the hurricane and our family is all outside putting up stuff that can fly away, PM'ing battery banks, PM'ing chainsaws, etc. We know that the other family is supposed to arrive down the way today and we know the Dad/step Dad has been working hard on projects around there as well as his own hurricane preps. From a good distance away we hear the ATV's start up. My wife comments- "well it sounds like the kids are helping B with his hurricane preps." LOL, we have a good laugh at that.
Flash forward a few days. All of them stuck together in a small cabin. Broken ATVs, gas is low, starting to get winds and rain, etc. We drive over there to check on them, hang out for a bit and bring them some water barrels.
Dad/step Dad and his biological son have been working, they always are. The step kids invited FRIENDS up, three in total. One is in college and is clearly different than the others. He comes up to us, introduces himself and shakes my hand. I'm thinking "WTH over, you have manors and you are hanging out with them??" Seriously, the others are typical head way up the butt Millenials, don't even acknowledge people, etc. We find out later that "manor's kid" was homeschooled.
The manors kid has been helping Dad and biological son split a boatload of firewood just outside the cabin. Other Millennials are and have been laying around inside watching movies, eating up everything in site, etc. The Dad/step Dad is one of those personality types that is all easy going till he's not.... He is close to that "not" phase. Grumbling about how lazy those kids are, manor's kid can help out, why the hell can't they? Blah blah blah, he's fuming. Mom of the lazy kids is trying to calm him down, she tends to want him to parent HER children. Blended family mess.
The Dad is going through all kinds of BS- "those kids aren't going to eat till they split the rest of this wood" blah blah blah. The kids, being "raised" (or lack thereof) the way they have, know of course this is just BS threats and just an old guy blathering on.
It occurs to me watching this train wreck that as I have stated time and time before, it's still true- your family is going to be your #1 Asset during an emergency or it's going to be your #1 LIABILITY.
My son is there with us, we like to talk about awkward situations like this after we leave, how the parents could have done better, etc. Because eventually we want grand kids and we want him to have kids both he and us can enjoy. And who the hell wants a mess like that?
So the Dad finally gets the Millenials out of the cabin and goes through his tirade about them splitting the wood before they eat another scrap or he fixes another ATV, blah blah blah- hot air- but the kids realize it's time they have to do something.
The Mom protests, the poor kids are going to lose life and limb operating that logsplitter, they are just retarded babies! The Dad/step Dad mentions that the step son has run it with him before, etc.
So he cranks it up for them. It's under a shed and it's not raining now, so it's hardly cruel and unusual punishment LOL.
Here is where I wish I had taken a pic and made a meme- "Millenials surviving." Picture 1 kid standing at the logsplitter, his sister (who isn't a priss) and another female standing a few feet away with arms crossed and another male standing opposite them with arms crossed- all with blank dumb looks on faces.
The splitter starts being put to use. First up are some HUGE rounds, probably 18 inch or better. They are split ONCE and placed on the wood pile right behind the ONE kid that's working. I start to laugh a little bit upon seeing the size of the "split" wood. Another one goes in the same way, the kid running the splitter looks up and towards all of us and notices I'm watching. I smile and shake my head, acknowledging I "get" what he's doing. His face betrays an "oh crap I'm caught" look and he goes back to splitting the huge wood into just two pieces.
My son looks at me and looks over at them. I give him a little shrug as if to say "if you want to." He goes over to help them. The Dad protests- "J doesn't have to help them, this is for them to do, blah blah blah." J says "It's o.k. they might need the help" and walks off to help them. He starts moving other rounds over to near the splitter so the only other kid that's working can reach them, starts stacking for him, etc. The other three are still standing around with arms crossed and dumb looks.
I wait a minute until the Dad is done basking in his "victory" of making the kids work, then I mention "how big is your stove?" "Oh it takes pretty big logs" he says all proud.
Really, like half a frickin huge log big?
He starts looking at the size of the splits now. The tirade begins again- "I'm just going to let them split and stack all of that, then afterwards I'm going to go over and say this isn't right do it again." The Mom is rolling her eyes and finally says "don't be an arsehole, go over and show them." The Dad protests that he has showed them XX many times, blah blah blah.
I walk over to the MillenialFest there and start rolling logs towards the splitter, I tell the male that hasn't been doing much- "you can just use your feet to roll them for the close ones" he looks at me like I invented the lightbulb- wait, we are talking about Millenails- he looks at me like I invented the Iphone. LOL Never occurred to him.
The girls are still standing cross armed. The daughter/step daughter has started to help here and there once I got over that way. I'm picking up smaller stuff that doesn't need to be split. I walk over to the prissy one who has heretofore not done crap, and I pass her two. Instinctively she reaches out and takes them, then her mouth drops. She fell for it, LOL. She hands it to the daughter who stacks it, then they both spend two minutes wiping their hands on their pants. I hand them both another couple of small pieces a few minutes later. Daughter takes, Prissy pants acts like she doesn't see, I just extend them a little farther and she picks them up.
Pretty soon everyone is in the act, the Dad and biological son are firing chainsaws up again, Manors kid is back over with them. The entire job is done in a short period of time after this.
This is the only help he got out of all those kids during about a 4 day time period, despite the emergency, despite losing power, etc. and he had to force this help.
The other pic I wish I would have gotten was when those kids were leaving. All being of age to drive of course they had all driven up there. They all had fancy dancy little cars so they parked them a good ways away from the cabin. Now everything was wet and they were specifically told not to drive through and tear up grass.
Being in the right place at the right time to see this, I get to see 4 millenials all decked out in fancy clothes trudging through wet grass. One who is maybe 100 lbs. soaking wet (the Prissy one) is CARRYING about a 40 lb. dog while dragging LUGGAGE through the mud and wet. Picture a roll around piece of luggage of the type you would only use at the airport.
The manors kid showed a little more common sense and stayed around another day until he was sure it was clear back home. The other millenials left not long after power went out up this way, risking who knows what on the roads and who knows what conditions back where the hurricane hit.
There is a lot of crap on the news, etc. about Millenials, unfortunately it seems to be true for quite a few of them.
I've been chastised over the years for even bringing up family issues in a survival context. From the run of the mill- "you must think your family is perfect" BS (I don't by the way) to personal attacks by really pissed off people that the message hit close to home with. Yet here again, this plays out in real life.
So some family has built not too far from us. They came up during the hurricane. They are nice folks who like to have others around, entertain others, etc. A "blended" family with the man having one son that's now late 20's and the woman having two kids- 18 or so and 16'ish. Previously they have stayed at another relatives place and in times past, have thought nothing of dragging friends of the kids up as well.
Typically Americant family- all about the "fun" with the kids, never taught them crap, never taught responsibility. Holdovers from the retarded baby boomer "just keep the kids HAPPY and everything will work out" non sense parenting approach. Dad/step Dad is very hard working, the Mom/step Mom is no slacker either. The kids however are rarely asked/made to do anything. As they were growing up, we watched as it was "all about the fun" and that was repeated over and over again. Yet somehow when they turn 16 or 18 they are supposed to know how to work and get a job. Yes, after years of babying, not being made to do anything, they are just going to wake up on their 16th birthday with a work ethic! This has made things odd at times during family gatherings because we have always strove to teach responsibility, respect for other people's stuff, etc. to our child. I'm sure it's been confusing before to see some little brats making ruts in family property with ATVs and not having to rake them out, meanwhile we are requiring our son to pick up after himself, help out both at home and at older relatives house. The older relatives (baby boomers where the "keep kids happy and everything will work out" BS came from), were YEARS AGO fine with the shenanigans of the blended family's kids- I mean they were kept happy right so who cares if they were pi$$ing off everyone with the constant ATV noise, the destruction of property that others had worked hard on, etc. They were happy and not (directly) bothering them so it was all good.
As people get older they tend to get more crotchety. Well that's happened with the older relatives and NOW it's a big deal when the ATVs start up, when the ruts are made in fields and manicured grassy areas, etc. We can only sit back and smile and wonder why that wasn't a problem when it was OUR piece of land that was being abused!
Anywhoo, so that's part of the back story to show where this is based on.
So it's a few days before the hurricane and our family is all outside putting up stuff that can fly away, PM'ing battery banks, PM'ing chainsaws, etc. We know that the other family is supposed to arrive down the way today and we know the Dad/step Dad has been working hard on projects around there as well as his own hurricane preps. From a good distance away we hear the ATV's start up. My wife comments- "well it sounds like the kids are helping B with his hurricane preps." LOL, we have a good laugh at that.
Flash forward a few days. All of them stuck together in a small cabin. Broken ATVs, gas is low, starting to get winds and rain, etc. We drive over there to check on them, hang out for a bit and bring them some water barrels.
Dad/step Dad and his biological son have been working, they always are. The step kids invited FRIENDS up, three in total. One is in college and is clearly different than the others. He comes up to us, introduces himself and shakes my hand. I'm thinking "WTH over, you have manors and you are hanging out with them??" Seriously, the others are typical head way up the butt Millenials, don't even acknowledge people, etc. We find out later that "manor's kid" was homeschooled.
The manors kid has been helping Dad and biological son split a boatload of firewood just outside the cabin. Other Millennials are and have been laying around inside watching movies, eating up everything in site, etc. The Dad/step Dad is one of those personality types that is all easy going till he's not.... He is close to that "not" phase. Grumbling about how lazy those kids are, manor's kid can help out, why the hell can't they? Blah blah blah, he's fuming. Mom of the lazy kids is trying to calm him down, she tends to want him to parent HER children. Blended family mess.
The Dad is going through all kinds of BS- "those kids aren't going to eat till they split the rest of this wood" blah blah blah. The kids, being "raised" (or lack thereof) the way they have, know of course this is just BS threats and just an old guy blathering on.
It occurs to me watching this train wreck that as I have stated time and time before, it's still true- your family is going to be your #1 Asset during an emergency or it's going to be your #1 LIABILITY.
My son is there with us, we like to talk about awkward situations like this after we leave, how the parents could have done better, etc. Because eventually we want grand kids and we want him to have kids both he and us can enjoy. And who the hell wants a mess like that?
So the Dad finally gets the Millenials out of the cabin and goes through his tirade about them splitting the wood before they eat another scrap or he fixes another ATV, blah blah blah- hot air- but the kids realize it's time they have to do something.
The Mom protests, the poor kids are going to lose life and limb operating that logsplitter, they are just retarded babies! The Dad/step Dad mentions that the step son has run it with him before, etc.
So he cranks it up for them. It's under a shed and it's not raining now, so it's hardly cruel and unusual punishment LOL.
Here is where I wish I had taken a pic and made a meme- "Millenials surviving." Picture 1 kid standing at the logsplitter, his sister (who isn't a priss) and another female standing a few feet away with arms crossed and another male standing opposite them with arms crossed- all with blank dumb looks on faces.
The splitter starts being put to use. First up are some HUGE rounds, probably 18 inch or better. They are split ONCE and placed on the wood pile right behind the ONE kid that's working. I start to laugh a little bit upon seeing the size of the "split" wood. Another one goes in the same way, the kid running the splitter looks up and towards all of us and notices I'm watching. I smile and shake my head, acknowledging I "get" what he's doing. His face betrays an "oh crap I'm caught" look and he goes back to splitting the huge wood into just two pieces.
My son looks at me and looks over at them. I give him a little shrug as if to say "if you want to." He goes over to help them. The Dad protests- "J doesn't have to help them, this is for them to do, blah blah blah." J says "It's o.k. they might need the help" and walks off to help them. He starts moving other rounds over to near the splitter so the only other kid that's working can reach them, starts stacking for him, etc. The other three are still standing around with arms crossed and dumb looks.
I wait a minute until the Dad is done basking in his "victory" of making the kids work, then I mention "how big is your stove?" "Oh it takes pretty big logs" he says all proud.
Really, like half a frickin huge log big?
He starts looking at the size of the splits now. The tirade begins again- "I'm just going to let them split and stack all of that, then afterwards I'm going to go over and say this isn't right do it again." The Mom is rolling her eyes and finally says "don't be an arsehole, go over and show them." The Dad protests that he has showed them XX many times, blah blah blah.
I walk over to the MillenialFest there and start rolling logs towards the splitter, I tell the male that hasn't been doing much- "you can just use your feet to roll them for the close ones" he looks at me like I invented the lightbulb- wait, we are talking about Millenails- he looks at me like I invented the Iphone. LOL Never occurred to him.
The girls are still standing cross armed. The daughter/step daughter has started to help here and there once I got over that way. I'm picking up smaller stuff that doesn't need to be split. I walk over to the prissy one who has heretofore not done crap, and I pass her two. Instinctively she reaches out and takes them, then her mouth drops. She fell for it, LOL. She hands it to the daughter who stacks it, then they both spend two minutes wiping their hands on their pants. I hand them both another couple of small pieces a few minutes later. Daughter takes, Prissy pants acts like she doesn't see, I just extend them a little farther and she picks them up.
Pretty soon everyone is in the act, the Dad and biological son are firing chainsaws up again, Manors kid is back over with them. The entire job is done in a short period of time after this.
This is the only help he got out of all those kids during about a 4 day time period, despite the emergency, despite losing power, etc. and he had to force this help.
The other pic I wish I would have gotten was when those kids were leaving. All being of age to drive of course they had all driven up there. They all had fancy dancy little cars so they parked them a good ways away from the cabin. Now everything was wet and they were specifically told not to drive through and tear up grass.
Being in the right place at the right time to see this, I get to see 4 millenials all decked out in fancy clothes trudging through wet grass. One who is maybe 100 lbs. soaking wet (the Prissy one) is CARRYING about a 40 lb. dog while dragging LUGGAGE through the mud and wet. Picture a roll around piece of luggage of the type you would only use at the airport.
The manors kid showed a little more common sense and stayed around another day until he was sure it was clear back home. The other millenials left not long after power went out up this way, risking who knows what on the roads and who knows what conditions back where the hurricane hit.
There is a lot of crap on the news, etc. about Millenials, unfortunately it seems to be true for quite a few of them.
I've been chastised over the years for even bringing up family issues in a survival context. From the run of the mill- "you must think your family is perfect" BS (I don't by the way) to personal attacks by really pissed off people that the message hit close to home with. Yet here again, this plays out in real life.
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