A case study in irresponsible parenting

Me and the Farm Manager were having breakfast at the Topnotch this morning, when this family of five strolls in; Mom and Dad and three kids between maybe four and nine. They settle in by the front window, and the first thing I notice is that nobody, adult or child, has any electronic device in evidence. No iphones. No tablets. No gameboys.

That in itself set alarm bells ringing. It’s one thing if the grownups want to create a tech-free pseudo-reality for themselves, but what are they doing to their poor kids? Haven’t those parents heard that we’re living in the information age?

You won’t believe what happened next. They pull out a little chessboard!

No shit! A chessboard! Who does that?

While they’re waiting for their server, Mom and the older boy play chess. Dad is reading a magazine article to the younger kids. They’re asking questions. They’re engaged.

This goes on after they order. I notice not a one of the kids are expressing their youthful exuberance by running about the place raising hell and annoying the other patrons. Makes you wonder what kind of a regimented and coercive home life these poor youngsters must have.

Sure hope those kids get woke real soon. Call the Child Help Line before it’s too late, kids!

Everybody deserves a normal childhood!

Otherwise, it’s not hard to see what’s going to happen here. Those kids are going to grow up to be engaged, chess-playing, highly literate independent thinkers as adults.

And as a society, that’s certainly not something we want to encourage.