Parenting.

Okay, now I know I am not a parent, never will be, which is probably why parents (especially friends who become parents) drive me insane.  Not all.Hell, I have one friend who is raising his child single-handedly after the mom decided she was not ready to be a mom and wanted to put the kid up for adoption at 6 months old.  Now that is fucked up.

But I digress.  So let me start again.  Why do people change so radically when they become parents?  Now I am not talking about becoming more responsible, or not partying like they used to.  I am talking HUGE changes that make you barely recognize your friend.

The God factor.  This is the first one I became aware of.  My friend in high school got pregnant, had her baby, and suddenly *BOOM* hard core Christian.  And, no, not like bless you Christian, but YOU ARE GOING TO HELL Christian.  She tried to rewrite history of herself as the second virgin mother.  Sorry sweets, I remember you at 15.  She is now homeschooling her little angel because she does not want her child exposed to ... well, life I guess.  Not that I am opposed to homeschooling, if you have the tools (brains) to teach your child properly.

The villiage must raise him.  This is the next one.  Now don't get me wrong.  I do believe that we, as a society, do need to step up and take a more active role in mentoring the youth today.  But the point of the village raising a child, is that others get to input their skills, their views, there morals in the child.  So your child learns about diversity, and understands that different is not necessarily wrong.  The problem is when these parents seem to think the world should change to accommodate what they want their child to learn.  Yeah, these are the parents who demand that Glee be taken off the air, are offended by turbans and hijabs (though they put that cross around their kids neck), and wonder aloud at how DARE Miley Cyrus dance like that when her daughter looks up to Hannah Montana (and seriously: letting a Disney kid be your child's idol?  Have we learned nothing from Lindsay Lohan?)

Then there are the people who suddenly become a non-entity.  Every conversation is about this kid.  If you try to discuss the world they have to give you and opinion based on "Well as a mother/father", like by sheer act of giving birth or impregnating another your opinion should carry more weight.  Yeah, it doesn't.  Frankly all you have proven is that you can have sex.  Yeah, me too.  Get over yourself.

So to all you parents out there who managed to stay true to themselves:  Great job.  Yeah, this kid I have no worries about.  Dad level: Awesome.

Come on everyone, let's all hate the poor.

Okay, know, it's been a while. What can I say, things have not really pissed me off lately. Until yesterday. WHich ran into suppressed rage on another neighboring subject. I cannot twist it all into one post. So I begin with this one.
I hate people. Not all people, of course, but ti seems to me like the assholes I used to think were a minority are not. The selfish, self-excusing dicks of this world really piss me off. My older cousins were having a discussion.... and seriously, as fucking mothers you would think they would be a bit more sympathetic to kids. Three fucking housewives under 25. Three women whose husbands hold jobs, and they raise kids.
"I can't believe welfare is giving an extra 50 dollars every school aged kid those people have for school supplies. I have to buy MY kids school supplies."

Okay the "Those people" thing fucking kills me, like poor people are not quite human. But also, yeah, you can afford to buy your kid school supplies (though in JK I cannot imagine there was much you had to buy her)

Catty reply 1: "Wow, bet the beer store will will be selling lotsa cases tonight."

Yeah, because THOSE PEOPLE of course do not care and want what is best for their children. THOSE PEOPLE are just deadbeat drunks right?

Catty reply 2: "That is why they stay on the system, we encourage it"

50 dollars once a year encourages people to stay in a life of poverty?

Catty reply 3: It's not like their kids are going to need school to sit their asses home on welfare.

Yeah, but every kid dreams of the welfare life.

Okay, now, maybe you do not see the big fucking deal. Here it is. Those ladies' mother was in an abusive relationship with their father. After years of abuse she snuck her kids out in the middle of the night to a shelter. For a year she was on welfare while she got on her feet. These ladies owe possibly their lives, but most certainly the life of their mother to a system that allowed her to escape knowing her kids would not starve. There is a reason these services a are called a "safety net". It is not just a nice PC word. It describes what they system is in place for. So that unexpected events don't make you plunge to your end and go splat.

Now I am sure these ladies (who do respect and love their mother) would argue that her case was different. I am willing to bet every case is different. So rather than assume you know so much about that woman with the two kids who is on welfare, maybe trust that she has her reasons. And chances are, it is not because she can't miss "the Price Is Right".

Go to your doctor. Enroll your kids in school. Drive on those roads. Tax dollars, bitches! Just because they are using services you aren't does not make them free-loaders. Hells, C and I don't begrudge the tax dollars going to public school the kids we will never had will not go to.