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I expected some level of hand-wringing here in response to this article. Maybe it's something in the water in rural America, but none of this is unusual or extr

by courtf 6y ago

I expected some level of hand-wringing here in response to this article. Maybe it's something in the water in rural America, but none of this is unusual or extreme, and if this behavior is foreign to you, then you and I grew up in different circumstances. Getting together with the boys and breaking the law, pushing each other to go a little further each time, is a rite of passage all over the world. Maybe it's practice for the kinds of risks adults sometimes have to take to survive. A life without these formative experiences sounds dull and sterile to me. I sometimes wonder whether the outrage and histrionics people sometimes get into over seemingly trivial stimuli aren't caused by a lack of exposure to games with real stakes.

phobosanomaly 6y ago
I grew up in a rural area around some sketchy people too, but this stuff seems a little extreme. I grew up around kids who drank and did stupid stuff, but driving blackout drunk down a freeway blindfolded and shooting at pedestrians with airsoft guns? I don't think that's a rite of passage. Growing up, even the kids whose brothers were on meth weren't doing stuff that extreme, usually they caught a charge on something way before they got to that point. Breaking your wrist on a dirtbike? Sure. Catching a juvenile possession charge? Sure. Shooting out windows with a BB gun? Sure. Ghostriding in a parking lot? Sure. Yelling obscenities at people out of a passing car window? Sure.
lotsofpulp 6y ago
> Maybe it's practice for the kinds of risks adults sometimes have to take to survive. Shooting pellets at unsuspecting drivers and bicyclists and racing blackout drunk in large vehicles are not risks that one needs to take to survive. They’re not even risks, they’re just blatant acts of disregard for others. I hope my kids don’t live in a community where people routinely break laws that kill people.
ntsplnkv2 6y ago
Honestly everyone I know that was like that, that broke the law when they were young, turned out to be unsuccessful. Many are addicted to opiates. Very few have real jobs. None of them are educated beyond high school. Frankly, they're all harshly considered "losers." It doesn't surprise me these things happen in rural America. Small towns, your dad knows the local sheriff, you doing something "illegal" and getting arrested is them taking you to your dad.
- dx87 6y ago
  It's not just rural towns. My dad grew up in the suburbs outside a major city, and he has similar stories of people getting drunk and destroying property in high school. The cops were just as lenient as well. He told me one time he was drinking with some friends and they got pulled over, and the cop just told them to drive straight home because it was the middle of the night and he didn't want to deal with a bunch of drunk teenagers.
kyleee 6y ago
That roughly sums up my feelings and experience as well. I found it curious that another commenter suggested such behavior is unique to America, which I strongly doubt.
TheSpiceIsLife 6y ago
On the one hand society expects people to be "just, upright citizens". And on the other hand society expects the military to fill the ranks of infantry and enlisted sailors, including the reserves. From at least some perspectives this is confusing: we're all only here because our, overwhelmingly male, ancestors went to war and won. Conjecture: a society that doesn't foster risk-taking behaviour in young males may soon find itself extinct.
- ntsplnkv2 6y ago
  This doesn't make sense. The losers of those wars were risk takers as well - and they lost. In fact, for an EXISTING nation, risk taking males are more of a threat to social order. Risk taking, non-conformist males make terrible infantrymen - that's why they beat out the risk taker and make you follow orders. The military doesn't want a cosplaying rambo cocking everything up.
  - dx87 6y ago
    > In fact, for an EXISTING nation, risk taking males are more of a threat to social order. Risk taking, non-conformist males make terrible infantrymen - that's why they beat out the risk taker and make you follow orders. That's 100% wrong. One of the main advantages of western militaries is that they encourage independent thinking. In the Marines, one of the things leaders are told is that they should tell their troops what needs to be done, and let them decide how to get it done.
    - throwawaygh 6y ago
      I think op is talking about army/navy kids, not marine officers.
    - ntsplnkv2 6y ago
      Please - this is nonsense. No one commands you to raise and aim your weapon every time - that doesn't mean western military forces are a bastion of free thinking. They're reliant on chain of command and soldiers acting on their own is not good for an military.
127 6y ago
Drunk driving is not acceptable behavior, ever.
- dvtrn 6y ago
  I want to meet the people who had a problem with this comment that they downvoted it.

by courtf 6y ago

phobosanomaly 6y ago

I grew up in a rural area around some sketchy people too, but this stuff seems a little extreme. I grew up around kids who drank and did stupid stuff, but driving blackout drunk down a freeway blindfolded and shooting at pedestrians with airsoft guns? I don't think that's a rite of passage. Growing up, even the kids whose brothers were on meth weren't doing stuff that extreme, usually they caught a charge on something way before they got to that point. Breaking your wrist on a dirtbike? Sure. Catching a juvenile possession charge? Sure. Shooting out windows with a BB gun? Sure. Ghostriding in a parking lot? Sure. Yelling obscenities at people out of a passing car window? Sure.

lotsofpulp 6y ago

> Maybe it's practice for the kinds of risks adults sometimes have to take to survive. Shooting pellets at unsuspecting drivers and bicyclists and racing blackout drunk in large vehicles are not risks that one needs to take to survive. They’re not even risks, they’re just blatant acts of disregard for others. I hope my kids don’t live in a community where people routinely break laws that kill people.

ntsplnkv2 6y ago

Honestly everyone I know that was like that, that broke the law when they were young, turned out to be unsuccessful. Many are addicted to opiates. Very few have real jobs. None of them are educated beyond high school. Frankly, they're all harshly considered "losers." It doesn't surprise me these things happen in rural America. Small towns, your dad knows the local sheriff, you doing something "illegal" and getting arrested is them taking you to your dad.

dx87 6y ago
It's not just rural towns. My dad grew up in the suburbs outside a major city, and he has similar stories of people getting drunk and destroying property in high school. The cops were just as lenient as well. He told me one time he was drinking with some friends and they got pulled over, and the cop just told them to drive straight home because it was the middle of the night and he didn't want to deal with a bunch of drunk teenagers.

kyleee 6y ago

That roughly sums up my feelings and experience as well. I found it curious that another commenter suggested such behavior is unique to America, which I strongly doubt.

TheSpiceIsLife 6y ago

On the one hand society expects people to be "just, upright citizens". And on the other hand society expects the military to fill the ranks of infantry and enlisted sailors, including the reserves. From at least some perspectives this is confusing: we're all only here because our, overwhelmingly male, ancestors went to war and won. Conjecture: a society that doesn't foster risk-taking behaviour in young males may soon find itself extinct.

ntsplnkv2 6y ago
This doesn't make sense. The losers of those wars were risk takers as well - and they lost. In fact, for an EXISTING nation, risk taking males are more of a threat to social order. Risk taking, non-conformist males make terrible infantrymen - that's why they beat out the risk taker and make you follow orders. The military doesn't want a cosplaying rambo cocking everything up.
- dx87 6y ago
  > In fact, for an EXISTING nation, risk taking males are more of a threat to social order. Risk taking, non-conformist males make terrible infantrymen - that's why they beat out the risk taker and make you follow orders. That's 100% wrong. One of the main advantages of western militaries is that they encourage independent thinking. In the Marines, one of the things leaders are told is that they should tell their troops what needs to be done, and let them decide how to get it done.
  - throwawaygh 6y ago
    I think op is talking about army/navy kids, not marine officers.
  - ntsplnkv2 6y ago
    Please - this is nonsense. No one commands you to raise and aim your weapon every time - that doesn't mean western military forces are a bastion of free thinking. They're reliant on chain of command and soldiers acting on their own is not good for an military.

127 6y ago

Drunk driving is not acceptable behavior, ever.

dvtrn 6y ago
I want to meet the people who had a problem with this comment that they downvoted it.