Thank You. You have hit the nail on the head. Overprotective
parents, lack of role models, "safety" all have conspired to turn our
boys into wimps. The amount of soy consumed by children also is
helping to feminize boys by introducing large amounts of estrogen to
their systems.


On Aug 12, 6:06 pm, "|-|eavy-quar|" wrote:
Is it just me or have we become a nation of pussies? And where was
I when this cosmic shift took place? Let me explain "cosmic shift"
through example. When I was a baby we did not have a car seat, no
one did. When I got older I would sit in the front seat without a
seatbelt, everyone did. I did not own or wear a bicycle helmet as
a kid - I still don't. In any event, somewhere along the line a
cosmic shift took place where only lunatics would put a baby in a
car without a car seat or drive without seatbelts. The same sort
of cosmic shift is nearly completed with bicycle helmets. It's a
strange sort of phenomenon that sometimes makes sense but at other
times it doesn't.

Another cosmic shift has taken place in America but this one is
repugnant in all ways. I'm talking about the pussification of
American men. The seat belts and the bike helmets are all part of
this and the cosmic shift really accelerated after 9-11. Fear
began to trump sex on Madison Avenue. The metrosexual has become
the symbol of American masculinity. Hugh Grant has replaced Cary
Grant as a Hollywood icon of masculinity. I was at a party
recently and some hag was blathering on about how hot David
Schwimmer is. He's the guy that was on Friends always blubbering
on about his feelings or something. Can you imagine this guy
playing along side of John Wayne in the Sands of Iwo Jima?

I was really struck by this pussification the other day at my
son's t-ball game. It was warm and sunny but nothing unusual. A
mother came out of the stands and asked me, the coach, if I had
sun screen and water for the kids. I just sort of looked at her in
a mystified state. I said we have hats and a bubbler behind the
back stop. T-ball is not really known for making kids sweat much
at all and I figured sun tan lotion is for the beach. I'm not
opposed to a kid running over to the bubbler for a drink. She then
proceeded to spray sun screen on all 15 kids and practically
forced them to gulp some bottled water. Parents in the stands
literally cheered her for her safety first approach.

I just sort of shrugged it off but later I heard one boy comment
to Mrs. Worrywart's kid, "Why was your mom spraying us with that
stuff. You're mom's stupid." A few other kids chimed in as well
and Mrs. Worrywart's son just sort of sat there in a state of
slumped resignation. It pretty much ended at that but I was just a
little inspired to know that masculinity is still inherent in
boys. Its society and people like Mrs. Worrywart that beat it out
of them.

I have been blessed with three sons and counting. It's my mission
in life to see that they don't become metrosexuals. My wife can
harp on them about washing their hands and not farting at the
dinner table but I'm in charge of what they do out of the house.
They're boy's boys complete with dirty faces and skinned knees.
They jump, wrestle and horse play at every opportunity. They are
not and will not be pussies.

Of course this will be a challenge in this day and age of hand
wringing and anti-anxiety medications. I was called into school
for one of my kids this year. A kid cut in front of him in line
and he corrected the punk. I didn't see the big deal but the
principle did so we took our licks. I still instructed him to
stand up for himself, not be punked by a punk and to choose his
battles wisely.

At this juncture many of you are proving my point with your
thoughts. Those of you that think I'm an awful father for not
telling my son to ignore the bully, to tell the teacher or run
away have bought into the pussification of American men lock,
stock and barrel.

Just this past 4th of July weekend some punks were blowing of
fireworks in the park behind my house. I had no problem with this
until they started launching **** into my backyard. I marched over
there and gave them two choices. I guess that makes me pro-choice.
They had the choice to launch their **** at my house or away from
my house. The consequences of course would be different for each
choice. They chose to launch away from my house- the correct
choice. My neighbors chastised me for being so rash and
challenging the punks. "What if they would have had a gun?" My
response was that we would have had a gun fight. You see I'd
rather do something and take the chance then to have my sons see
me cower behind the curtains like half a fag.

There was a time in this country when most men would have acted
just like I did. When I was kid the adult men were all WWII vets
and those guys put up with no ****. Consequently we had little
crime in our neighborhood. A lot of fist fights but little crime.
In that exact same neighborhood we now have the opposite. No fist
fights but a **** load of bull**** crime and good men that do
nothing. They have all the excuses down about having kids, fearing
lawsuits and guns but all this is simply caving into cowardice.

Maybe I'm an anomaly but I was taught that it's my job as the man
of the house to put his balls on the line from time to time. This
means protecting my home and neighborhood. I don't have problem
with this and it comes quite natural but I learned this throughout
a childhood and adolescent of rough play and risk taking. I'm not
talking about foolishness here. I'm talking about bravery,
toughness and balls. These used to be cherished traits among men
and women admired these qualities in men as well. Nowadays we are
all confused about these things. Being a hard dude doesn't mean
you are misogynistic piece of **** that we see glorified in rap
videos. A real man has a big heart that he reserves for his family
and friends. For the assholes in the world he has his balls, big
ones.

We have a lot of social problems in our country these days and
everyone has their pet theory that explains the reasons for the
proliferation of these problems. Conservatives blame big
government and welfare. Liberals think we don't have enough big
government and welfare. It's Halliburton's fault! Blame it on the
Clintons! Bull****. I blame it on men who have ceased to be men.
Behind ever battered woman, every knocked up teenage girl and
every punk firing off guns indiscriminately are millions of men
that won't do their jobs as fathers or simply as stand up guys
that won't abide by bull****. Men have become pussified in America
but I won't have any part of it.

How about you?

What he said may be the norm. But when my son was 5 years old,
I took him with me to the crawl space in the attic to wire the
new vent fans. The roofer said he couldn't wire them because
he was not an electrician.

First, I showed him where switch for the attic fans was
located to make sure it was off. Then I had him nail
down the plywood so he had something to crawl on and
explained why he still wanted his weight to be on the
2x4's.

I showed him how to a wire tester "one-handed" to make
certain the power was off. My son is left-handed so he
had to learn to do electrial work right-handed.

He help me lay brick, cut down trees, plant trees,
put up a fence, tend a garden, change oil, repair
toilets, lay carpet, etc. He is now 23 and called
me yesterday to tell me he got his first electric
shock because he "thought" the power was off. I
told him he was damn lucky he wasn't standing in
a puddle of water.

I even taught him how to homebrew beer which since
he didn't out the effort into high school that I
tried to get him to do, it comes in handy since
he is barely making a living.

If you don't teach your children how to work and
learn from teaching them, you're a wimp parenting
a wimp to be.

Dick

Yep, I have had a similar experience with the roofer not being an
electrician. On a job years ago, doing heating and AC. My crew
was doing a lot of electrical work to hook up the furnace, and
outdoor unit for the AC. It was not much extra work to connect
the roof vent fan.

You shoulda let him do electrical work left handed. He didn't try
to get you to hug him left handed, correct?

--

Christopher A. Young
You can't shout down a troll.
You have to starve them.
..

"Dick Adams" wrote in message
...
: What he said may be the norm. But when my son was 5 years old,
: I took him with me to the crawl space in the attic to wire the
: new vent fans. The roofer said he couldn't wire them because
: he was not an electrician.
:
: First, I showed him where switch for the attic fans was
: located to make sure it was off. Then I had him nail
: down the plywood so he had something to crawl on and
: explained why he still wanted his weight to be on the
: 2x4's.
:
: I showed him how to a wire tester "one-handed" to make
: certain the power was off. My son is left-handed so he
: had to learn to do electrial work right-handed.
:
: He help me lay brick, cut down trees, plant trees,
: put up a fence, tend a garden, change oil, repair
: toilets, lay carpet, etc. He is now 23 and called
: me yesterday to tell me he got his first electric
: shock because he "thought" the power was off. I
: told him he was damn lucky he wasn't standing in
: a puddle of water.
:
: I even taught him how to homebrew beer which since
: he didn't out the effort into high school that I
: tried to get him to do, it comes in handy since
: he is barely making a living.
:
: If you don't teach your children how to work and
: learn from teaching them, you're a wimp parenting
: a wimp to be.
:
: Dick

on 8/13/2007 9:16 AM Dick Adams said the following:
What he said may be the norm. But when my son was 5 years old,
I took him with me to the crawl space in the attic to wire the
new vent fans. The roofer said he couldn't wire them because
he was not an electrician.

First, I showed him where switch for the attic fans was
located to make sure it was off. Then I had him nail
down the plywood so he had something to crawl on and
explained why he still wanted his weight to be on the
2x4's.

I showed him how to a wire tester "one-handed" to make
certain the power was off. My son is left-handed so he
had to learn to do electrial work right-handed.


I don't understand this statement:
"My son is left-handed so he had to learn to do electrial work
right-handed" (sic).
What part of electrical work requires that one should be right handed?

He help me lay brick, cut down trees, plant trees,
put up a fence, tend a garden, change oil, repair
toilets, lay carpet, etc. He is now 23 and called
me yesterday to tell me he got his first electric
shock because he "thought" the power was off. I
told him he was damn lucky he wasn't standing in
a puddle of water.

I even taught him how to homebrew beer which since
he didn't out the effort into high school that I
tried to get him to do, it comes in handy since
he is barely making a living.

If you don't teach your children how to work and
learn from teaching them, you're a wimp parenting
a wimp to be.

Dick



--

Bill
In Hamptonburgh, NY
To email, remove the double zeroes after @

- What part of electrical work requires that one should be right
handed?

My guess is that all of the poster's tools and supplies were of the
right-handed style. You know, right-handed screwdrivers, righted-
handed wire cutters, right-handed wire nuts, and the all important
right-handed multi-meter. You start using that stuff with your left
hand and there's no telling the damage that could be done.

On 13 Aug, 10:16, willshak wrote:
on 8/13/2007 9:16 AM Dick Adams said the following:

What he said may be the norm. But when my son was 5 years old,
I took him with me to the crawl space in the attic to wire the
new vent fans. The roofer said he couldn't wire them because
he was not an electrician.

First, I showed him where switch for the attic fans was
located to make sure it was off. Then I had him nail
down the plywood so he had something to crawl on and
explained why he still wanted his weight to be on the
2x4's.

I showed him how to a wire tester "one-handed" to make
certain the power was off. My son is left-handed so he
had to learn to do electrial work right-handed.

I don't understand this statement:
"My son is left-handed so he had to learn to do electrial work
right-handed" (sic).
What part of electrical work requires that one should be right handed?





He help me lay brick, cut down trees, plant trees,
put up a fence, tend a garden, change oil, repair
toilets, lay carpet, etc. He is now 23 and called
me yesterday to tell me he got his first electric
shock because he "thought" the power was off. I
told him he was damn lucky he wasn't standing in
a puddle of water.

I even taught him how to homebrew beer which since
he didn't out the effort into high school that I
tried to get him to do, it comes in handy since
he is barely making a living.

If you don't teach your children how to work and
learn from teaching them, you're a wimp parenting
a wimp to be.

Dick

--

Bill
In Hamptonburgh, NY
To email, remove the double zeroes after @- Hide quoted text -

- Show quoted text -

Stormin Mormon wrote:

You shoulda let him do electrical work left handed. He didn't try
to get you to hug him left handed, correct?

Try doing electrical work left-handed and count
the number of times your hands are criss-cross
and the number of times you have the open end
of the wire on the left instead of the right.

Ask an electrical contractor if he hire someone
who worked left-handed?

Dick

willshak wrote:

I don't understand this statement:
"My son is left-handed so he had to learn to do
electrial work right-handed" (sic).
What part of electrical work requires that one
should be right handed?

Bend a wire so it has a u-shape and connect to a
post on and outlet. Then try holding the wire with
your right and tightening the screw with your left
hand.

Ask an electrical contractor if he would hire
someone who works left-handed?

Dick

on 8/13/2007 10:04 PM Dick Adams said the following:
willshak wrote:


I don't understand this statement:
"My son is left-handed so he had to learn to do
electrial work right-handed" (sic).
What part of electrical work requires that one
should be right handed?


Bend a wire so it has a u-shape and connect to a
post on and outlet. Then try holding the wire with
your right and tightening the screw with your left
hand.


Why should I use my weak hand? I use my strong hand to turn a
screwdriver. Your son would do the same. Since he is left handed, why
would you tell him to use his weak right hand to turn a screwdriver?
Even a right handed person has to twist his arms, wrists, hands, and
possibly the work, awkwardly to work on the left side of things.
I have a little problem attaching a copper wire to the screws on the
left side of the outlet. I have to twist the outlet sideways to the
right so that the screws face toward me and I can use my right hand to
turn the screws. On the right side, I can turn the screws without
twisting the outlet. He would have it easier on the left side.


Ask an electrical contractor if he would hire
someone who works left-handed?

Dick


That would be job discrimination.

I think you made a silly statement and you know it, and now you are
trying to save face.

--

Bill
In Hamptonburgh, NY
To email, remove the double zeroes after @

I'm left handed and never had trouble attaching wires- screwdrivers
work in either hand.

On Aug 13, 10:04 pm, (Dick Adams) wrote:
willshak wrote:
I don't understand this statement:
"My son is left-handed so he had to learn to do
electrial work right-handed" (sic).
What part of electrical work requires that one
should be right handed?

Bend a wire so it has a u-shape and connect to a
post on and outlet. Then try holding the wire with
your right and tightening the screw with your left
hand.

Ask an electrical contractor if he would hire
someone who works left-handed?

Dick

on 8/14/2007 5:40 PM said the following:
I'm left handed and never had trouble attaching wires- screwdrivers
work in either hand.


Finally. I thought we ran out of left handed people. :-)
On Aug 13, 10:04 pm, (Dick Adams) wrote:

willshak wrote:

I don't understand this statement:
"My son is left-handed so he had to learn to do
electrial work right-handed" (sic).
What part of electrical work requires that one
should be right handed?

Bend a wire so it has a u-shape and connect to a
post on and outlet. Then try holding the wire with
your right and tightening the screw with your left
hand.

Ask an electrical contractor if he would hire
someone who works left-handed?

Dick






--

Bill
In Hamptonburgh, NY
To email, remove the double zeroes after @