Future Diabetics

Yesterday I spoke with a long time friend of mine and we spent most of the twenty minutes bringing each other up to date on our various medical issues. Afterwards I found myself depressed, another medical issues to add to my list, over the fact that two pretty athletic men in our childhood have turned into a medical mess in our seventies.

As kids we spent most of our non school lives outside playing. We either played pick up baseball and hockey and basketball or we played kick the can and hide and seek and red rover. The point was we were nonstop running, or at least moving around, at breakneck speed.

So how did a generation of kids who exercised daily, had limited access to sugary foods, and had zero body fat, turn into the medical disasters most of us have become? I don't get it. And what worries me is if we took care of ourselves and we turned out like this, what chance do today's kids have?

Their idea of getting outside and exercising is to ride electric stuff. That's not exercising, that's being dragged around by technology. These poor kids will be diabetics by twelve. When is the last time you saw a gaggle of neighborhood kids playing kick the can? Name the last time you saw a group of kids shovel of some frozen pond and play hockey, or make bases out of cardboard boxes and play pick up baseball.

You can't think that far back because it was three kids and thirty anniversaries ago. The only positive about them riding these death traps around is that at least they are talking to each other in person and not via texting or Tic-Tok. Besides a growing diabetic society we are also creating a generation that doesn't know how to verbally socialize, tell time on an analog clock, or read cursive writing.

I'm glad I'll be dead before they take over the world. It will be embarrassing to have to tell the President from this generation what time it is because he can't read the clock. OK bad example, but you know what I mean.

I have been concerned about these kids since the last generation of kids. We have allowed our kids and grandkids to become weak, both physically and mentally. We raised them like our pets. We punished them by giving them anything they asked for or wanted. How did this help them. How many stories do you hear about a Gen X or Gen Z having a breakdown because their boss told them no to a request. Or worse, they are melting down because they didn't get a job they wanted. Like they are the first people to ever be turned down or told no.

Don't even get me started again on participation trophies.

CSN&Y told us to teach our children well. I think we let them down.