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Old 05-29-2014, 01:05 PM
 
Location: on the edge of Sanity
14,268 posts, read 18,846,067 times
Reputation: 7982

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A few weeks ago I was sitting in the McDonald's on 776 in Englewood using the WiFi and drinking my "senior" coffee, when a young man said hello to me. I'm guessing he was between 14 and 17, but I really have a difficult time judging age, so I might be wrong. Anyway, he asked if I live in FL or was just visiting, said he thought my Skechers were cool, my tee shirt was a pretty color pink and, when he left, told me to enjoy my day.

Now I am in the Englewood library next to the Tringali Center and someone waved to me. I couldn't see who it was and said "just a minute," and reached for my glasses. He was a young man I've never seen before. He was about 15 or 16, and I asked, "Do I know you?" He said he was just waving to be friendly. I smiled and said, "That's very nice. Hello to you too." Then he asked "What's your name?" I replied in a puzzled tone, "My name is Nancy, why?" He answered, "I'm just trying to be friendly" and told me his name.

Is this common? Have I become so cynical that this type of behavior from young people seems unusual? I'd like others to share if they've had similar experiences. We always seem to complain about the loud music, the baggy pants and rude behavior, but I rarely hear about teenagers being polite and respectful.
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Old 05-29-2014, 02:51 PM
 
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I have found most of the young people here to be very friendly and polite. I had a young clerk call me sweetie!
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Old 05-29-2014, 04:45 PM
 
Location: Palm Island and North Port
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I've found that most teenagers, given the chance, are pretty friendly or shy. I think because of the generation gap some things can get lost along the way.

Funny you mention that because I saw that one of my daughters teenage friends was talking on Facebook about how he was being nice and talking to some random lady. He lives in Englewood and is about 16 or 17. Just made me wonder if you were talking about him or it was just a coincidence.
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Old 05-30-2014, 06:25 AM
 
Location: Port Charlotte, FL - Dallas, PA
5,111 posts, read 4,876,947 times
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Maybe they like cougars??

I was out front doing some yard work last week and had my motorcycle parked in the driveway. A young man in his early-teens?? was riding by on a mini-bike and stopped to ask me if I knew how to change the front tire on it (he was riding it with the front tire flat ). He spoke well and was very polite. I'm glad to see others having positive interactions with today's youth too.
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Old 05-30-2014, 12:14 PM
 
Location: SW Florida
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Quote:
Originally Posted by MikMal View Post
Maybe they like cougars??

I was out front doing some yard work last week and had my motorcycle parked in the driveway. A young man in his early-teens?? was riding by on a mini-bike and stopped to ask me if I knew how to change the front tire on it (he was riding it with the front tire flat ). He spoke well and was very polite. I'm glad to see others having positive interactions with today's youth too.
Is it teenagers from a small community? I've met some mighty nice teenagers and other young folks around here too.
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Old 05-30-2014, 02:16 PM
 
Location: Florida
1,646 posts, read 3,006,594 times
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A lot of the "nice teens" I have met in the area are being raised by grandparents that teach them respect. That is a benefit of living in an older demographic area. Parents today, and I'm talking MY generation, leave a lot to be desired. The older guardians aren't afraid of getting out the belt. We can blame the government and liberal ways for many of kid's bad attitudes today. This is a generalization of course, not every parent or kid. There is still some hope for this generation...I hope.
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Old 05-30-2014, 02:38 PM
 
Location: SW Florida
14,847 posts, read 11,982,323 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by HarborRat View Post
A lot of the "nice teens" I have met in the area are being raised by grandparents that teach them respect. That is a benefit of living in an older demographic area. Parents today, and I'm talking MY generation, leave a lot to be desired. The older guardians aren't afraid of getting out the belt. We can blame the government and liberal ways for many of kid's bad attitudes today. This is a generalization of course, not every parent or kid. There is still some hope for this generation...I hope.


That's exactly what I've thought when I met those kids. I also met some very nice, well spoken and respectful kids when I lived in Miami, too. I tended to think that these were kids, who for the most part, were raised by parents who were pretty strict with them- tended to find that among some of the Hispanic folks, and Haitians as well. I think those parents tended to feel that permissive, materialistic, instant gratification, anything goes culture they see all around them in their adopted country today would contaminate and ruin their kids if they didn't keep a tight rein on them. They're probably not wrong about that.
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Old 06-02-2014, 07:37 PM
 
Location: Port Charlotte
45 posts, read 78,125 times
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Don't know about the kids that spoke to you, I can only speak of my two teens who would do pretty much the same thing. It comes from being raised right and in rural or smaller communities. We are originally from a small town in indiana and my kids know that eventually I am going to hear about what they've done which inspires them to keep their noses clean and be respectful. We always tell them... "pay no attention to what your friends do, they don't have YOUR Dad! "
I am a firm believer that "spare the rod, spoil the child" is a warning, not an instruction and they know it.
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Old 06-03-2014, 09:40 AM
 
Location: SW Florida
14,847 posts, read 11,982,323 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by JimboFolds View Post
Don't know about the kids that spoke to you, I can only speak of my two teens who would do pretty much the same thing. It comes from being raised right and in rural or smaller communities. We are originally from a small town in indiana and my kids know that eventually I am going to hear about what they've done which inspires them to keep their noses clean and be respectful. We always tell them... "pay no attention to what your friends do, they don't have YOUR Dad! "
I am a firm believer that "spare the rod, spoil the child" is a warning, not an instruction and they know it.
Something to that. I think it also has something to do with knowing that your actions will have consequences to you, good or bad.
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Old 06-05-2014, 02:32 PM
 
Location: on the edge of Sanity
14,268 posts, read 18,846,067 times
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Hi. I'm back in the library again. Thanks to everyone for posting. I just had a nice chat with a 9 year old. He'll be starting 4th grade in a few months. When I asked "Do you like school?" he replied, "Love it." Young people will never cease to amaze me.
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