Drinking: The Social Conundrum

About five minutes ago, an old friend of mine, who I consider a friend no more asked me to go to Wal-Mart with him to get some drinks and then go to his friend's house and get drunk and play video games. It is currently 10:30 p.m. and we are all under age. What I do not understand is why he continues to ask me to drink or go with him to parties. I am not a partying type of a guy and I do not want to drink at this point in my life. I see no need for it, nor do I have the desire to drink or find out what being drunk is like. It was not something my parents ever instilled in me. They never explicitly said I could drink or not drink, it is just a boundary I set for myself because I don't want to drink. I don't get what the big deal is all about. Do people really need to get drunk to enjoy their lives? Do they need to be intoxicated to have a good time with their other friends? I also don't want to get in trouble with them cause I have the worst like and could get caught my by parents or the police or any other authoritative figure. I hate that so much. I can't stand that they keep on asking me to drink when I just don't want to.

Spoiled Kids

            Parents in the newer generation are way too lenient on their kids and they spoil them way too much. This is not to say that every single parent spoils their child, but more children are being spoiled in this generation than they were when I was a kid (Born in 1994). I recently had relatives come over who stayed the night with their two children. One is thirteen, an eighth grader, and the other was ten years old, meaning that he would be finishing up the fifth grade this June. The thirteen year has a 32gb iPod Touch, wants a $3000 Apple Mac Book Pro, and an iPhone 5 for his upcoming birthday. Now I understand that when one enters high school, they will need a laptop to create Powerpoint Presentations, write up labs and short papers, and type up review questions for class, at least that's what I did as a freshmen in high school. The request of a $3000 Mac Book Pro is just simply preposterous, especially for a thirteen year old. This thirteen year old isn't playing hardcore games that require an expensive graphics card or sixteen gigabytes of Ram. He isn't recording music either and therefore doesn't need the high quality sound card nor the RAM. He would not have a single reasonable excuse as to why he would need 512GB of solid state space AND 16GB RAM. I am a firm believer that people buy technology that is so advanced and unnecessary that they don't know what it all does. Many people I know don't even know how to copy and paste a file, or install a program. When I was his age, (Wow, how old do I sound...), I had a Dell Inspiron E1705 which had a 17.5 inch screen, 1 Gigabyte of RAM, and  128 Gigabyte of Hard Drive Space. I got this laptop in the seventh grade, and it lasted me all the way into the beginning of 2012, when I replaced with my current HP DV6. That 1Gb RAM laptop was able to take care of all of my powerpoints, papers, spreadsheets, and even a little bit of movie editing and montage making my junior year.

The thirteen year old confessed to me that the reason he wanted the iPhone 5 was because all of his friends have it, and that he wanted to have one so that he could fit in. His parents told me he has no problems fitting in, and no one bullies him, so why is there a need to buy this super high- tech phone. I had a flip phone for 6 straight years (2006-2012) and it only made phone calls. I only recently swapped in the old flip for a Samsung Galaxy S III, but I paid for it with my own money. I don't think the kid understands that the phone, plus the data plan he wants as well as the texting, will put a serious dent in his parent's pockets. His younger brother is starting to take after him as well, and wants the most recent iPad with the retina display. What does a ten year old need a five hundred dollar tablet for? The father said that he was considering purchasing these items for his kids, which frightened me even more than the kids actually asking for it. Freshmen in high school can suffice with a four hundred dollar 4GB Ram 500Gb hard drive HP or Dell or a lower end model with an i5 or even an i3 processor. They aren't going to be running numerous applications, and Google Chrome will probably be the only application they run that will take up all of the RAM. When I wanted to get something that big, I had to get straight A's for a full year for my parents to even consider purchasing it. These kids want all of the new technology, and they probably won't even know how to operate half of it. Instead of getting an iPhone 5s, I'd rather get the iPhone 4 for free, or even a Droid that is free, if I wanted a smart phone that is. It sickens me and horrifies me that kids now a days are spoiled so much and given so many high tech gadgets. I recall my high school Physics teacher mentioning that one of her cousins gave her niece an iPad for her fifth birthday. HER FIFTH BIRTHDAY. I got a tickle me elmo toy for my fifth birthday and I loved that toy to pieces. I see these kids in elementary schools with cell phones and Xbox 360's and it just makes me wonder why these parents cave into their kids.

In my opinion, the worst thing a parent can do for their kid is spoil them because then they will expect everything to be handed to them without any effort or hard work. I remember when I was in third grade, I had to stay on my best behavior when visiting relatives and had to maintain good grades in order for me to get Pokemon Coliseum and even then, I could only play for two hours week and only on Fridays. I maybe got three games a year, and I sure as hell had to make do with those three games. Even when relatives would give me $5 as a kid for doing work around their house, my mother would take the money and put it in my bank. I wouldn't even see the $5 bill. These kids should be working for their rewards. They should be vacuuming or cleaning their room at the very least. They should stop giving their parents a damn attitude every five minutes when all their parents are asking is for them to come to dinner. They want you to bed fed. There's people on the streets that would love be yelled at and requested their presence be there at the dinner table. Even though I am an only child, I would never want to be spoiled to the point where I got everything I wanted. I remember once I reached my sophomore year, I stopped "asking" for things unless it was the one Halo game, or a random trinket here or there. I try to earn what I buy and save up for it because in the end, I'll know it's mine and that I worked for it. I didn't just beg my parents to get me the latest phone or anything of the sort, I worked my butt off to get the money to buy the phone itself and then try to somehow make $30 a month for the data since I don't have a job.

Some of these parents need to get an honest hold on their kids and explain to them that they can't get what they want. Just because someone wants something doesn't mean they need it. And if they really want it that bad, if they can't live a damn day without... well then work for it. Both the parents and the child will feel better in the long run.

Apple's Robotic Staff

So I had the opportunity to go to the mall today to pick up an iPad 2 that my father and I purchased for my mother. It was located within a mall, so I was not expecting the store to be big at all. It was organized in a very neat manner and I can respect that. What slightly bothered me about the store was the staff itself. There was nothing wrong with the staff physically. One could look at them and even hold a conversation with them and not find a fault with them. Where I find fault is the participation the staff had in the store. It all felt so mechanical and lifeless. I shall explain. When we walked in, we were promptly greeted and were offered help by a cheery young man. We told him our business, which was picking up an iPad 2 that we ordered online, and we sent to a young lady. I cannot remember her name for the life of me, but for the sake of the story I shall refer to her as ‘Emily’. Emily asked one of the ‘runners’ to bring the iPad 2 with the case we ordered and within no time, we were sent to another young lady, whose name I also forgot, but shall call ‘Alison’. She assisted us in setting up the iPad. It all just seemed so mechanical. As if this was a play or a piece that was rehearsed millions of times. It felt so lifeless, like false smiles and gestures. Were they truly happy to help us? Were they really that happy that we bought a product with the signature Apple logo on it? What concerned me the most was the young man who called out to me on the way, wishing me a happy day and hoping I enjoyed the new iPad. Now I apologize if I come off as jaded, or rude, but it just doesn’t feel like real life. It feels too fabricated and rehearsed. It seems as if they are robots, following a command line of “If/ Then” Statements. If one situation fits the qualification, proceed to smile and guide them to the next facility. It all just seemed fake. Maybe I am just losing faith in humanity, or I have lost sight of the ‘good’ people in the world, but something seemed off at that Apple Store.