Can we talk?

Responsibility

        When do you actually consider a young person an adult? We have a running debate in my family. I say a 23 year old is a grown up. As such, that adult must face the consequences of her actions. So many others will say, "But, she's just a kid." or "She's immature."

        Okay, I agree it's immaturity, but I hold that to be an offense, a fault, not an excuse for boorish behavior. I'm outdated or I wouldn't be using words like "boorish". "No", I say. "Rudeness and insensitivity are boorish, and should be outdated, but that's not likely to happen."

        I argue that if friends, family, and co-workers keep saying, "He (or she) is young", then he will never learn to do what's right." I argue for accountability I argue that adult freedoms and pleasures come with responsibility. Overlooking the lack of responsibility is never going to encourage its growth.

        Is it just a minor slip, a one-time error, or one of many problems, or a predictable pattern?  All of us, at any age, can make a one-time error, an aberation of our usual good behavior. But if we're always late, always canceling without warning, repeatedly committing the same faux pas, then we have a problem worth addressing, To let it pass with an excuse like youth or immaturity gets us off the hook and leaves us unprepared for the real world.

        So I stand alone. A 21-year-old is a legal voter, legal drinker, either a student or an employee. A 21-year-old gets no free passes with me. You're an adult. You don't want me to tell you how to live (don't tell me how to live, either). So start acting like an adult, not a kid.