> I'm afraid. I'm afraid that the adolescents of my age will one day take over the world. Recently the faith I have had in teenagers has taken a sharp drop as I watch their festering media-rotten minds leak away any maturity, intelligence, emotion and ability they had left. I have always felt a little out of the crowd, and that may contribute to my blistering opinions of them, but I simply cannot comprehend what drives them to drink recklessly, smoke, toss their virginity out the window, and/or not care at all about anything that really matters in life. I just want to know if someone could help me understand these people.

I've watched a few generations grow up. Sometimes they act pretty stupid in the early years, but most of them grow up to be good people. Almost everybody has things in their past that they wish hadn't happened. The happiest people I know are the ones who think for themselves and don't give in to fads or pressure from their peers. I think that's where I got ahead as a youngster. I didn't form any bad or deadly habits. Sure I did a few things that I shouldn't have, but not because everybody else said it was the thing to do. I'd be rich is somebody gave me a dollar for every cigarette or alcoholic drink I turned down. I also had sense enought to pick my friends instead of letting the wrong kind of friends pick me. And I had as much fun as anybody. Maybe more, because I woke up the next morning with a clear head and good memories of what went on the night before.
Two of my friends and I used to crash dances at the famous old Maxwell House Hotel in Nashville. We couldn't afford to belong to the expensive frats that held the dances, but we got to hear some great bands. We just eased in the back door and took a service hall to the back of the ball room. Was that bad? We didn't cause a problem and we had a great time. Both of my friends (and the Maxwell House)are gone now, but I still have good memories. Have I started to ramble again?
Howard