WTF Wednesday

Things that make you go WTF?!

This is ridiculous. The father of a major league baseball player who was killed last month in a car accident is suing. His son was intoxicated, talking on his cell phone, not wearing his seatbelt, had marijuana in the car (a rental, as he had recently had an accident in his own car), and was going close to 70mph when he plowed into a tow truck which was assisting a stalled car at the time. Who is he suing? Everyone he can, apparently. The restaurant, which continued to serve his son. Okay, maybe there's a bit of culpability there; I don't know. But he's also suing both the tow truck driver AND the driver of the stalled car. WTF? Does he think the driver CHOSE to disable his car on the Interstate? And how exactly does a tow truck assist a car that's stalled in the road without being IN THE ROAD? That's why tow trucks are large vehicles with lots of flashing lights. So oncoming cars can SEE them. Geez. I'm really sorry this guy lost his son, but dude...your son fucked up. He's dead because he FUCKED UP. And yes, we've undoubtedly all fucked up in some way, at some point in our lives, and I don't know what kind of luck/fate/karma/divine will is involved in determining why some fuckups have more serious consequences than others, but going lawsuit-happy isn't going to bring him back. My sympathies for your loss--now get back to mourning your son in a more appropriate fashion.


On NPR this morning there was a story about a consulting firm that does nothing but help employers learn to supervise their Generation Y employees, whose fragile psyches apparently are having trouble dealing with the rough-and-tumble workplace. WTF? Apparently, after a lifetime of being told by their parents/teachers/counselors, etc. that they are ALL so special and wonderful and incapable of doing wrong, these poor kids are freaking out that their employers aren't continuing to massage their delicate egos. Give me a freakin' break. Now, I'm all for positive reinforcement--the bosses I remember most fondly were masters of that technique--but if your ordinary "Hey, that report looks great!" isn't enough for you, YOU'RE the one that needs to learn how to deal, in my opinion. Sometimes we need to be respectfully (no need to yell) shown what we're doing WRONG, too.

I feel all old and crotchety and "what the heck's the matter with kids today," but...damn. I mean, parental support is the greatest thing in the world--my own parents were masters of THAT technique--but there's a difference between being supportive versus deluding your child into thinking that the entire world exists only to fulfill his needs, and that his every utterance is brilliant, his every action perfection, etc. Come on, nobody's every utterance is brilliant, and you're not doing your child any favors by not gently helping him to realize that everyone has different talents and gifts, and that maybe he's not as good at soccer as Jimmy, but that's okay--is he having fun, anyway? Maybe math isn't his best subject, so we'll work harder at that, but what a great essay he wrote for English class.

Okay, okay, I don't have kids, so maybe I shouldn't get to have an opinion, but I WAS a kid, and if my parents had told me I was a great athlete I believe I would have known they were bullshitting me. They never told me I shouldn't try out for a team, but they never chewed out the coach when I didn't make it, either.

I think I'm going to suggest daily champagne toasts to my accomplishments (an actual technique one employer in the story was using) to MY boss and see what he says. If he can stop laughing long enough to say ANYthing, I'll let you know.