Petula Dvorak has written an excellent article which should be passed along to all helicopter parents. Here’s a snippet:
[Helicopter parents] are the mothers and fathers who demanded laws for bike helmets, car seats and warning labels on every plastic bag and bucket in the universe. They had the home number of every teacher from preschool to college. And they’ve even been known to call up their grown kids’ new bosses after junior didn’t get a promotion.
But what happens when these highly groomed offspring go off and join the hundreds living in the Occupy movements camps? To whom do you file a complaint? Who gets the irate phone call?
h/t Sammy
Maybe someone should spike their soup with exlax etc. after hosing down all of the toilet paper in the taxpayer supplied toilets…..
It’s all about control. Parents must control the lives of someone and their kids are handy.
David Goldman has a nice phrase for the most affluent of them: “the inbred products of the Ivy League puppy mills”.
Notice the “added”led civil servant.
Tip: Beware of running buses.
…-
“Hindsight is 20/20,” added Coombs. “But in hindsight, with today’s conditions, we should have cancelled.”
“Buses shouldn’t have run, school board acknowledges”
http://www.recorder.ca/ArticleDisplay.aspx?e=3436284
What’s that song called? “Helicopter parents, don’t let your kids grow up to be independent”?
Nothing like a good old freeloader to piss on the graves of their ancestors.
Last year I had a woman call me out of the blue complaining that her son didn’t get hired into my department even though he was clearly the best candidate. I had no idea what she was talking about as I don’t bother with junior hires but she was insistent on meeting with me and her son. Normally, I’m too busy for such nonsense but the whole thing amused me greatly (what 25 year old man has his mommy call a vice-president they’ve never even met over a summer job said VP barely knew existed?) so I agreed.
At the end of the meeting (about 25 minutes of her talking) I politely declined to hire her son noting that we don’t hire weak-willed little boys with no backbone but I’d be happy to offer her a job as I could put a vicious, controlling, cold-blooded shark like her to good use. Needless to say, the meeting did not go well after that…
I couldn’t help but notice a comment to that bus article.
The first or second poster whined about there being no seat belts in the buses….
A few years back, I was associated with a contractor who delivered new school buses(Thomas built..Woodstock On) all over the continent..
It seemed some jurisdictions ordered seat belts and others didn’t. Some districts/states who had jumped on the seat belt bandwagon…jumped off and removed the belts.
It transpired that the seat belts increased injuries….replacing minor bumps/bruises with fractured hips or worse.
I had the task of recovering a school bus…damaged in Rochester…to have a factory installed new body.
The wreck drove well, except it dog tracked about 3 ft. It had been T-boned by a fire-truck, upset and slid on it’s side about 75 ft into a building.
The were no fatalities, and the interior indicated the injuries were limited to minor glass cuts….bloody finger prints at the roof hatch….however the impact area indicated a 2 ft intrusion….which would have crushed a passenger secured by the famous seat belt.
Full sized school buses rely upon their mass, fully padded seats, comprehensive side guard beams, caged fuel tanks/interframe tanks to protect the occupants. Even against impacts with large vehicles…
It is my opinion that seat belts represent a hazard in full sized buses but are helpful in the smaller “short buses”…and should be manditory in the smaller buses.
The commenter is expressing an un-informed opinion….all too common.
The criteria to run or not, should be more oriented to visibility…fog and blowing snow…
A full sized school bus is one of the more stable, well protected vehicles out there….they are designed to be. Their weight and long wheel base make cars and pickups appear to be miss-guided missiles on slippery roads…yet these “helicopter parents” get to influence decisions….making litigation wary school officials even more so.
All growed up and no participation trophy, oh the travesty!
LOVE your comment slaw!
It is not easy for parents to back off when the time is right for their kids to become independent. For most part the kids force the issue. It seems that some elements of the younger generations are content to remain under the care of their parents. The parents have obviously not made life at home intolerable enough. I moved out at 19 because I couldn’t stand the “rules” any longer. Maybe a few house rules would solve a lot of problems
Who should receive the irate call?
How about the Ohio State National Guard.
Good one slaw.
slaw
Now that was priceless. lol
Reminds me of this scene. Things haven’t changed much I guess.
Mat 20:20 Then the mother of the sons of Zebedee came up to him with her sons, and kneeling before him she asked him for something.
Mat 20:21 And he said to her, “What do you want?” She said to him, “Say that these two sons of mine are to sit, one at your right hand and one at your left, in your kingdom.” ( Now thats called Chutzpah, being a Jewish Mother its fits)
Mat 20:22 Jesus answered, “You do not know what you are asking. Are you able to drink the cup that I am to drink?” They said to him, “We are able.”
Mat 20:23 He said to them, “You will drink my cup, but to sit at my right hand and at my left is not mine to grant, but it is for those for whom it has been prepared by my Father.”
Mat 20:24 And when the ten heard it, they were indignant at the two brothers. ( No kidding lol)
Sasquatch:
Minor point but isn’t Thomas Built Buses located in Brantford Ontario, not Woodstock?
Or am I behind the times.?
Many of todays parents seem to have missed the the very simple piece of logic, that either they are in charge,…..or the kids are in charge. If they are in charge then they will not thank you by the time they hit 12 or 13. You as a parent are a dinosaur that knows nothing and it’s too late to learn respect is earned with limits and not bribes. The social engineers and the Nanny state in many cases have done a remarkable job in eliminating common sense in parenting. Of course they don’t have to pick up the pieces.
I’ve always wondered how squatting in a park was supposed to cause change. I guess the participation trophy idea explains a lot. They show up and participate, and therefore the trophy (social change) should be handed over.
Best part is the never leaving home thing …. serves any parent right to be stuck with their perpetual dependents….
Slaw, you’re full of s**t. That story is just a silly fantasy. I’d fire any manager who pulled a stunt like that.
One thing I don’t agree with, is the use of the term “helicopter parents” to disparage stay home mothers. I’d be more inclined to believe these occupy types were raised in daycare, or by nannies. I’ll bet there was more parental neglect, than hovering.
I put in the extra work, so my kids could have a stay home mother. I tried to make sure they didn’t have as many scars as I have. I encouraged them to leave the nest, when they were ready. There’s nothing wrong with trying to be better than our own parents.
These are the same drama queen parents that demanded whole schools be turned into Peanut-Free Zones for the sake of their precious little darlings (who probably weren’t even genuinely allergic). They thrive on attention and have conniptions when they don’t get it, and now they’ve raised a whole generation that’s as neurotic and obsessive as they are.
Bye-bye, Western Civilization. It was great to know you…
John Beresford Tipton at 6:14 PM
“Sasquatch:
Minor point but isn’t Thomas Built Buses located in Brantford Ontario, not Woodstock?
Or am I behind the times.?”
Brantford was the home Of BLUEBIRD CANADA….now closed.
Thomas BUILT closed it’s Woodstock plant first about 10-12 years back…after it became a division of FREIGHTLINER….a division of Daimler…like Chysler.
Apparently FREIGHTLINER conceding to complaints from it’s dealers about THOMAS dealers selling what they regarded as FREIGHTLINERs and doing warrenty service to FREIGHTLINER units…but in turn the dealers had no interest in selling school-buses….
Woodstock units were built for all of Canada, and the US NE and Mid-west. Production (what there was)returned to High Point NC.
Earlier THOMAS attempted production in Mexico, defects and an inflexibile workforce crippled that effort.
TimberJack had a similar experience….which lead to their sale to Valmet(Finnish)…then to sale to Deere…who closed the Woodstock plant and took the proprietory designs to US based plants.
coach at 6:41 PM
couch, I have had even more rediculass situations than slaw’s, but I was only GM
know of a situation were 33 year old son has gone and moved in with his GF, the poor mother phones every day and is threatening to cut him out of the will. If my 33 year old spawn was at home, he/she would get thrown out od fthe front door:-))
coach at 6:41 PM
couch, I have had even more rediculass situations than slaw’s, but I was only GM
know of a situation were 33 year old son has gone and moved in with his GF, the poor mother phones every day and is threatening to cut him out of the will. If my 33 year old spawn was at home, he/she would get thrown out of fthe front door:-))
Helicopter parents: old Ojibwa word for arseholes.
Coach, to be polite I think you should work on your reading comprehension skills. Slaw didn’t say stay-at-home moms were helicopter parents: you did. Helicopter parents “hover” over every aspect of their precious snowflakes. They are the ones who figure the day care nanny should be college educated but whine about the high costs of day care when they have to raise the workers wage above minimum . Also, from the story, slaw is a VP of the company not a mere manager. I’d be inclined to see what kind of a woosie this mommies boy was, even if it was just to see the look on mommy dearest’s face when I still said no job.
As a helicopter engineer I must protest the implied smear against helicopters.
Why sully the good name of a useful aircraft type when we can all agree that the parents are only doing what they believe best for their children: keeping them walled in to protect them.
As I seem to remember a Pink Floyd album (like a CD, only made of vinyl, and analogue instead of digital – yes kids, wierd, I know) featured the story of just such a child named “Pink”, perhaps we have name for the children of this sort?
I wager calling them Pinks wouldn’t be far from an accurate description of their politics, either.
I’ve encountered similar in my former job (military). There’s nothing more entertaining than a helicopter parent finger-wagging a crusty old sergeant major with several tours under his belt over the treatment little johnny is receiving.
On the other hand, some of the best soldiers I have ever served with started out as little johnnies trying to escape their helicopter parents.
coach I’ve had this happen. Never meet the kid till 3rd interview. Dad came to first two interviews. Liked the kid and hired him. He was OK. Just had to get rid of dad.
Helicopter parents don’t have to rethink anything:
The rest of society has to do it for them:
A seminar from this weeks local construction convention –
What is it about young people?
How your future employees think.
J— —-, Workplace Safety and
Prevention Services, London
I ran into such a helicopter parent whose meddling taught him that mummy will bail him out of everything.
Coach, I see your point but I believe there are parents who molly-coddle their kids to a ridiculous degree. It wouldn’t surprise me, however, if the Occupests (TM- BCF) WERE in day-cares.
Liberals don’t breed in numbers large enough to sustain themselves.
Like a virus, they propagate by infecting your children.
How did I ever survive childhood without a bicycle helmet or a child car seat. Come to think of it, my dad’s first car had no seat belts.
They were talking about requiring safety helmets for tobogganing a couple of winters ago. I kid you not. Next, they’ll be required for kids when walking on suburban streets.
I’m not sure what military SoCon4Ron is talking about, but I know maternal intervention would not have made my 77 days on Parris Island more enjoyable.
Back in 1914 after he arrived at Valcartier, our Battery Commanding Officer had to amalgamate another battery in with his own local men.
He wrote home saying there were parents who had a lot to answer for. He knew how to whip them into shape because if they wouldn’t learn through the usual military means of punishment, he’d take off his jacket and take them on one-on-one.
Not much “whipping” goes on nowadays.
@ gellen
The social engineers and the nanny state are destroying any remains of what independant thought or risk was all about. Nanny shelters us from any perceived harm to body or mind. Nanny has also never studied history to see what happens to countries that have grown soft , lazy and dependant on her. Nanny thinks the 21’st century is immune to the lessons of the past and that our vast army of social workers and left wing professors will prevent any recurrence to the dark side of history. Nanny is Nevile Chamberlin waving a piece of paper and assuring us that all is good in our time while at the same time turning our young boys into gender neutral experiments devoid of testosterone or male instincts. We are a country of snowflakes where every child is special and number 1. We are a country in trouble if the sledding gets rough. History shows that sooner or later it will, and we are ill prepared for it, thanks to nanny. We not only don’t allow whippings , we are down to not allowing mean words or free expression. I wish us luck.