In article et,
Jeff McCann wrote:


Sheesh, how would I know? I was 13-14? It was (good/bad) luck and
teenage busybodyism I found out as much as I did.

Got it. I meant the question to be rhetorical. Sorry.

Well, it really was a sensible question by today's standards. All of the
feminist movement wasn't bad, probably not even most of it.

I don't want to get into a ****ing match here, but that kind of attitude
prevailed far longer than we in this time might think possible.

I think you've probably hit the nail on the head. But in this more
"enlightened" era, we complain a lot about irresponsible kids.
Personally, I think that the root problem is irresponsible parents. So
I draw a pretty hard line when parents allow or cause their children to
come to harm, or cause harm to others, as a result of parental
negligence. That's not to say that I have no sympathy for battered
spouses, especially in a time before recent societal changes in
perspective, but letting your teenage daughter be repeatedly raped is
just beyond the pale, and should not be tolerated in a decent society.
Nor should we tolerate spousal abuse, but at least the abused spouse is,
presumably, an adult.


You're absolutely right about abuse being beyond the pale, for sure.
Even though they were highly fictionalized, The Burning Bed and like
films weren't too far off in describing how difficult it could be to get
official response to domestic violence.

As usual in the USA, we've let the pendulum swing farther than perhaps
might be appropriate. We seem to be a nation of extremes sometimes and
often lose sight of balance. Some places, it can be a veritable gauntlet
of officialdom to take your child to the Emergency Room for an injury.

Just one data point:

My son was a real, honest-to-God, ADHD kid. Ritalin actually helped him.
Once, he fell into a footer trench for an addition I was building onto
our house and badly bruised and cut his back about at the tailbone. Poor
kid hurt like hell and I was half scared he'd really hurt himself badly.

At the ER, I was separated from him and we both were "interviewed"
_before_ they would treat him. They eventually decided we were truthful
about the accident, but it was sticky for a while.

By the time they were done "investigating," I was livid and told them,
loudly, they could either get on the stick treating him or I was going
to start abusing somebody, but they'd be the victims. _Then_ my lawyer
would start in on them. Apparently that anger satisfied them I really
didn't hurt my kid and they got about business.

The security guard they had watching me while they treated him, however,
was a bit on the touchy side.