What do you want to be when YOU grow up?

We are often asked as children "What do you want to be when you grow up?" As innocuous as this question may seem, it is one of the first opportunities adults take to try to control and manipulate people, which they do because they feel a lack of control in their own lives. If you give the wrong answer, they try to steer you in a direction that seems more "reasonable". Eventually, you learn the right types of answers to give: doctor, lawyer, Indian Chief. Then as you get older, you learn to modify your answer to be more specific and, therefore, more impressive: brain surgeon, IRS agent, college professor. Yet while these questions are dolled out, very rarely do adults ACTUALLY work to prepare you for these magnificent titles they've helped cajole you to iterate...preparations like shadowing an IRS agent for the day, visiting colleges, or sitting in one of those audiences while someone actually commits surgery on a guy's brain...at very least, watching a discover channel expose on it or investing in a good set of encyclopedias.

So this is what they do to us: they cajole us into giving them the answers that are suitable for them without ever actually giving a shit about what we really want to do when we grow up. And we let them do it because they..well...love us, right?

Look, if you want a child to know what they should be when they grow up, be a good dictatorial parent and simply say "This is what you're going to be when you grow up." then make it happen and stop fucking around with the "want" question. You're bullshitting and it's fucking up humanity. I'm sure Richard Williams, Matthew Knowles, Earl Woods, and Joe Jackson would agree.

TO THE KIDS: adults do not give a fuck what you want and they CERTAINLY don't give a fuck what you want to be when you grow up. Figure that shit out on your own. Then find someone who can help and advocate for you, train, and tell your parents whatever they need to hear to be satisfied. If you're undeniably good, nobody will fuck with you. In the meantime, just be a good human, stay under the radar, get good grades, and try not to piss too many people off. Your sentence is 18 years. After that, you're free. Considering that you'll have room and board provided, it's actually not that bad a deal so deal with it and move on.

NOTE: I'm sure some loving parents who actually care about their children will disagree. Have you ever considered that you aren't the only adults your children will interact with during their childhood? Chew on that and get back to me. As many fucked up people as you interact with on a regular basis is the same number of fucked up people your child will interact with on a regular basis...AND their children.

Without a vision, the children parish. And yes, children are people.

Love,
Blue