[Children In America]

Shygirl, I hear that all too often. My sister is a middle school teacher and I hear everything you just said every time I talk to her. She can't reprimand a student that refuses to do homework, pay attention, or learn as their parents go up one side of her and down the other. She has a strong love of teaching and believes that "No child left behind" is a crock. Slow the other kids down because Johnny doesn't care to move ahead. That's what we're doing.

And the workforce thing... I am amazed at how much of a generation gap there is between myself and those even a few years younger than myself. I have seen the absolute lack of work ethic that the new members of the workforce straight out of college can have. The last few people I've seen come through my office even just months younger than myself shock me with their mentality that the company owes them something. Excuse me??? You are getting paid to do the company a service, not just show up. I have worked my ass off for years to be where I am today despite my lack of college education and work harder for every raise I earn.

This just goes to show that it really starts at home - if parents really cared about their child's education, they would not take everything out on the teachers. And if parents made their kids work at home, they would have more pride in the jobs they do (or don't). Spolied doesn't even begin to cover it... I had a job at 15 to pay for my Driver's Ed... not a Mercedes handed to me on my 16th birthday. I didn't get an allowance for doing the dishes or mowing the lawn, I got a roof over my head and dinner on the table. And I guarantee those on the board even five years older than me worked harder for less than I did growing up.

GRRRRRR

I completely agree. Having been an employer until recently I've seen a lot of the societal effects firsthand. This seems to be a problem at all levels of society. 3rd generation welfare recipients or 5th generation spoiled rich kids, you're all driving this country down the tubes. No wonder other countries look upon us with such disdain.

Oh, and I tip my hat to all the roughnecks, pappyld04. I dearly love burning all those dead dinosaurs.

[Music Or No Music During Sex?]

Music is such a huge part of my life, I can't imagine doing anything without it. My "first" introduced me to music during our romps, and I've never looked back. Honestly, anything goes, as long as it's not country. Different tunes for different moods I guess.

[Hello!]

Would like to say hello, and thank you for providing such a well-moderated and mature site. I've browsed many similar sites and have found them lacking in one way or another. Cheers and keep up the great work.

[My Mother]

Being the oldest sibling of two, and there being seven years between us, I've had an interesting viewpoint in seeing how our mother has dealt with each of us "leaving the nest." I really had no major instances of "babying," whereas my sister has had to endure loads of it. I would venture a guess that it's some vague (and sometimes not-so-vague) relationship issue with a lot of mothers/daughters. Might have to ask my sister if she's come across anything in her Psychology studies about this phenomenon.