Charger Opinion

Parents: can teenagers survive the embarassment?

Doug Hensley, Charger Staff

Why must parents embarrass us to death? They seem to always be able to find something to embarrass us with. We might be having the best day of our lives but they still find something.

Around Christmas is the worst time for embarrassment.

They give you a present and you open it. If you are a guy, you always get one thing, but you act excited while you open it. You tear that wrapping paper and you have gotten underwear.

Now when its your sister’s turn, she opens her present but not with much excitement. She tears it open and finds a bra. Her boyfriend happened to get invited too, so he is sitting their laughing like crazy. About that time her mom gets out the camera and said, “ Hold it up so I can take your picture. Oh Bill, (her boyfriend) get in the picture too.” The girl puts it in the front of her face to not be seen and her boyfriend is still laughing. He is turning purple in the face by now. Her mom takes the picture .

Now it is time for her brother. Mom looks at him and said, “ Hold it up so I can take your picture.”

He doesn’t care about the embarrassment, so instead of holding them up he puts them on his head and says, “Cheese.”

Maybe you might go to town one day and your mom sees an old friend that you have never seen before but they remember you. They speak for a little while then the woman asks, “Who is this?”

Your mom just has to look at her and say, “This is my baby. He has grown up on me, but he’s still my baby.” About this time you hear what she said, and your face goes bright red.

Then the lady speaks again. She says, “I haven’t seen him since he was this big.”

She makes a hand motion around her knee. “I can’t believe he’s gotten so big. He’s become a rather cute young man.”

That statement just nails you in the back and instead of red you turn blue. You really start disliking your mom at this time.

I asked a few students what they think about the subject.

Mariah Skimmyhorn said, “It is their job and a major tradition.”

Hillary Pate said, “It teaches us a life lesson.”

Chad Harrelson said, “My grandparents did it to my parents, my parents do it to me, and I will be able to do it to my children.“

Laci Vickers said, “They do it just to get a good laugh.”

Marcus Thrasher said, “Our parents want us to move out so the more they embarrass us the more we will want to leave.”

We may hate what they do to us now, but it is something we will be able to look back on and laugh at -- eventually.

~Article prepared for web by Steven Linger and Joy Wheeler~