My Son the Idiot

[hot_pastrami]

Originally posted by lumberjim
What did you do to your son in his earlier teen years to make this walking fireplug and her transient lifestyle seem attractive?

A valid question, but poorly worded... it seems to implicate the mother. Perhaps a better way to ask would be "Did you do anything to your son in his earlier teen years..."

There are so many ingredients that go into life decisions that it's tricky to cite any one thing as a primary cause. Of course it all boils down to Environment and Character, but each of those things are a tangled maze of details. As others pointed out, bad upbringing can result in "good" kids, and good upbringing can result in "bad" kids. I'm one of the latter... my mother raised me as a good Mormon boy, and now I'm a godless, alcohol-drinking, cigar-smoking man who shacked up with his girlfriend for months before getting married.

When kids pull stupid shit, it is wise to look inwardly, to see what you might have done wrong. But sometimes, they just made a stupid mistake, and there was nothing you could have done to prevent it. And most of the time, you'll never know for sure, and the best thing you can do is to make smart decisions now.