I was my mother and father
With help from peers
And Playboy centerfolds
Ohhh, Ahhh

The television offered an education
Seven hours a day
In consumerism
And what it takes to be sexy

Buy Ford
GM
Chrysler
Toyota
Honda
Save gas
Go fast
Smoke Camels
Drink Coke
Eat at McDonalds
Pizza Hut
Burger King
Candy, candy, candy
Credit cards buy dreams

On the other hand
My great grandparents grew up
On a farm
Working alongside
Mom and dad in the fields

They paid cash for everything

Their school was
One room
Painted red
We heard about how hard it was
To walk to school in the snow

That was the stereotype

There was no television
Phone
Internet
I-Pod
Video games

This we know

My ancestors sat down
At the same table
To eat a home cooked meal,
A family.

Let’s fast forward a few decades

My dad was a drunk
Who spent more time at
The race track with the horses
Than with me

After my daily
Five minute lecture
On how God wanted me
To be a better person,
Mom spent the rest of the day
Talking to Him

I wonder if He was listening

Religions were my mother’s lottery tickets
To heaven
For insurance she put me in a Catholic school
Where I was taught to feel guilty for natural feelings
I said a lot of Hail Mary’s

My mom and dad never asked me if I had homework
Never talked to me about the Ds and Fs
Never checked to see if my mind was going the way
Of Columbine
Or Virginia Tech.

At fifteen
I wanted to be another dark celebrity
Gain my moment of fame
Maybe there would be a reality show about me
Or a TV special
I’d be a super star

After high school, mom and dad said
Pay rent or go to college

I left

The Marine Corps
channeled my crazy thoughts
Into the killing fields of
Korea
Vietnam
Panama
Iraq
Afghanistan

Watching television was better
No one blows up
You don’t return home with
Post Traumatic Stress Disorder

This dose of bloody reality
Made me sane

I am not alone.
In America we are Legion
We never learned how to be parents
We found out the hard way

Now I’m a father
The television is turned off
We eat a home cooked meal
Sitting around the same table
We talk
A lot
_________________________

Note: Over half of American children are latch key kids that talk with their parents less than five minutes a day while watching endless TV or YouTube. I was an English teacher in the public schools for thirty years and taught more than six thousand students.

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