Don't ya just love a good freak out?

So today I freaked out on my students. Is that bad? 3 years into the profession and already I'm sick of their shit. I suppose that this is brought on by a post I saw on facebook last night. I saw that a student at my former school had a baby yesterday. Now, first, I didn't know that this was even going on. Second, it just saddens the hell out of me.

I guess it's just my Holden Caulfield lot in life, but it certainly seems that her entire life is now flushed down the toilet, and the sad thing is that she seems happy about it! I dunno. It's not my life, so who am I to judge? It really hit me tonight when my girlfriend and I were sitting at a restaurant next to a large family (i.e. the whole crew was there) that had two toddlers. They were passing around the kids and while two people would keep them occupied, the other people would wolf down a bunch of food, then take the kids so the others can wolf down their food.

Now, think about this. Having never had a kid, yet having had to take care of my cousins on occasion, I know about dirty diapers. I know about 3AM wake ups and round the clock feedings. I saw all this with my sister, with my cousins, and with my other relatives. I've seen people that, because they wanted to keep the kid have completely ruined their lives and to this day, at the age of 50+, are living destitute working a joe job at a Subway because they couldn't finish college and earn a decent fucking wage.

But I think this is a bigger thing than just one person having a kid. I guess it's a matter of not seeing something until it was too late. I'm going to lay it out on front street here for you kids (should you actually be paying attention to me).

I used to smoke. Before that, I could run 3 miles in a touch over 18 minutes. Now if I can run a mile at all, I'd be doing good.

A lot of my friends used to smoke.

I started smoking while working at a summer camp when I was 17. I still remember it was a bummed Camel Light.

A lot of my friends got tattoos and weird piercings and got drunk and slept with the asshole at that frat party. They regretted it. All of it.

I almost got my hand broken when my fat bitch girlfriend fell on it in the bounce house during the halloween party at Sigma Nu.

I played pranks on lots of people in high school.

I told off my boss.

I got drunk WITH my boss.

I made a mistake when I was 17 that I later wished I wouldn't have made.

I've done things that my parents don't know about (nor would probably WANT to know about).

I can relate while reading The Perks of Being a Wallflower and The Catcher in the Rye.

I know that spaghetti chunks and screwdrivers can go at least 4 feet when puked into a mesh trash can from 6 feet up.

Friends of mine have gotten pregnant. Some have kept the kid, some adopted it out, others aborted, and all had (and still have, I'd guess) regrets.

I've lost people to suicide and cancer.

I've lost friends through the jealousy of others.

Long story short, I've been there. I've done that. I didn't do THAT, but really wished I had. I know what it's like because I've been there. So when I give advice, trust me that it comes from a place of love and understanding. It isn't stupid ol' McD telling you not to do this, or not to try that because he's part of "the establishment" or whatever, it's him seeing first hand what this stuff can do. And I know that all of this is going to fall on deaf ears (or eyes, I suppose), but the long and the short of it is this:

If your parents, teachers, older friends, grandparents or anyone else who might even have an inkling of what they're talking about tries to give you advice, before doing belly shots off of that Lambda Chi and passing out with your stiletto up your butt, at least take pause to THINK about what you're doing.