More Stupid Parents "Natalee Holloway" Give me a break!
In our next issue of "Stupid Parents" we take you to beautiful Aruba, a place made famous by that Beach Boys tune. A girl named Natalee Holloway has disappeared. Hmmm.. Where are her parents?
What kind of idiot parent lets their 17/18 year old child go to Aruba BY THEMSELVES? As I understand it there were some 140 students with only 4 chaperones on a "Senior Class Graduating Trip" to Aruba? What? I think we went to some forest preserve for a day or to visit Lincoln's tomb in Junior high. There was 1 chaperone to every 4 students in each instance. A class trip to Aruba? Where are these kids from B 90210? Come on.
Besides being one of the dumbest things I have ever heard (a class trip to Aruba), again, I ask you what parent in their right mind lets their 17/18 year old child (daughter no less) go unsupervised to Aruba? My parents wouldn't let me cross the street until I has in the 6th grade. Hell I had a curfew of 10PM at 17.
The parents have no one to blame but themselves. Protect your child until their are old enough to protect themselves. These are not college students. Hell most of these kids were at a bar drinking (including Natalee Holloway) when she supposedly disappeared. Drinking? Sure we all did that, but think about it. The drinking age for a US Citizen is 21. These kids were 17/18. And they were drinking, legally? In a bar? Would they be able to do that at home? Where the hell were these "chaperones?"
What's next, parents send their grade school graduating class to Bagdad?
4 Comments:
hmmm....well, while i certainly can go along with a decided few of your points here....and in particular your questions regarding the chaperones whereabouts
the night natalee supposedly left the relative safety of her own group......but i'll have to stop far short of condemning the parents of these young adults simply because these kids were allowed to go on this senior graduation trip.....frankly, i think that this is a very common thing in middle class america...and especially around the gulfcoast (although admittedly, it may well diminish in it's populartiy in the not so distant future...)
you sure went on quite a rant here.... blaming this whole thing on the collective parent's stupidity.... but i'm fairly certain that the parents truly wanted their kids to have a memorable, but safe, time kicking up their heels a little....
i'll also have to remind you of the fact that you're from/in/influenced by ...the state of wisconsin....not exactly the most "worldly" state that comes to mind.....
trust me, there's a great big bold world out there beyond moose-drool beer, cheese and the green bay packers...
unfortunately, sometimes seeing it can get you into
trouble....but listen, to be as safe as possible....you stay home and read your nat'l geo.
by the fireplace....that's what i'd expect from a good wisconsinite....or whatever you folks call yourselves.....
typical......
ry
houston,texas
9:56 AM
Interesting, though quite ignorant. You've made some bold assumptions here.
I am not originally from Wisconsin.
I do not like Miller products, and never have.
Cheese is made in all 50 states. In fact, while Wisconsin claims to be the dairy state, the largest producer of dairy products is in fact, New York! They are the largest producers of sweet corn in the country too (yes New York).
Ever heard of a town called Emory Texas? My Grandmother lives there. "What?" I've been to Texas? Yes, I lowered my standards and spent several summers as a you lad in the outback ass backwards state of Texaco. Loved it though...
Look, I would expect some moron from another country to bash the US, or Wisconsin, but a fellow USA'n? WTF?
Since you do not agree with my opinion, you find it necessary to bash another state? That's so original. What happened to the kind Texas hospitality I remember as a kid? I'll be going to Dallas as I do every year around October. Perhaps I should reconsider it if this is what has become of the Lone Star State.
You wanna take another guess where I am from originally there partner?
Now as to Nat? Her parents are idiots. That much is certainly true. When you are a parent you have a little different perspective on things like this. When it comes to protecting a child, sending them to a country notorious for murders, sex slave trade and other disgusting things is not exactly what I would call, "common thing in middle class America." At least it is not in the Middle Class America I grew up in.
Did I mention I did not grow up in Wisconsin? I do live there though.
I live in a small tourist town, home of the original Playboy Club, Al Capone, the Soap "The Young and the Restless", Wrigley Mansion, home to the largest refractory telescope in the world, home of cartoonists Joe and Jay Martin, writers of the "Mr. Buffo", "Willy'n Ethel", and "Tommy" comics, home of Joseph Philbrick Webster, who wrote the famous Civil War camp song "Lorena" and the popular hymn "The Sweet By and By, the famed "Dungeons & Dragons ® Role-playing Game" was founded in Lake Geneva, of course we are a popular stopping point for our Illinois neighbors to the south. I could go on.
Just an hour north of Chicago... Yeah, it's pretty back woods here.
Of course your claim to fame can likely be considered Astro Turf.
11:55 AM
ok, touche'....no more state bashing from my end...
admittedly, i threw those wisconsin tidbits in just to squeeze a little more perspective out on just who i was responding to (see your own "wtf" comment...you almost saw through it)....
now, that's not to say that i'll ever and i mean ever.. stop short of bashing dallas at every opportunity though....it's every native houstonian's god-given right....and vice-versa....
hmmm...couldn't find emory,texas on my trusty h-d road atlas...although it does say that it's at "b-10"....and that looks scarily close to the puny
"big d"....
anyway, back to nat's parents.....(which we're
obviously not going to agree on...you've been quite clear with regards to their perceived stupidity).....
i still maintain that the blame for natalee's disappearance falls solely on a horribly unfortunate combination of: a)the chaperones,b)her main
cluster of friends....and c)frankly, natalee herself)
you know darn well that she could have just as easily disappeared in chicago.....or houston....or just about anywhere else for that matter.....
i do not believe that the trip itself was flawed by it's design... nor do i believe that any of these kid's parents are to blame for some sort of blatantly ignorant miscalculation by letting them go....(although
i'm sure that they all feel that way now....can you imagine??)
i feel fairly certain that they all told them to be careful about a zillion times and sent them off for some possibly well-deserved hi-jinks in the carribean sun.... along with a small army of their
classmates ...and from what i've heard repeatedly, 12
chaperones.....
now, the bottom line is that these kids are most assuredly young adults....many of whom would be heading off to colleges in other cities in the upcoming fall....to run their own daily lives (with the possible exception of the money part)
anyway, they're damn sure old enough to know that they need to keep their wits about them.....and that they need to do that wherever they are....
...that said,... we all know that some simply are not going to do that.....some will
take the partying waaay too far.....and that's where
the other classmates come in....my opinion is this.....if nat(and/or others) was getting too ripped.....someone else should have been watching...someone other than joran van der sloot and his surinamese cronies (i've actually been to suriname...nice place.... much less scary than time spent in kingston,jamaica).....those guys had obviously been hanging around all evening...and someone should have taken notice....frankly, someone probably did.....and boy, are they dealing with some serious guilt right about now....
you know, and this may well sound like some sort of john wayne-ish texan bravado....and my high school days may be 30 some odd years behind me......but there's no way she leaves alone, with people that "we" don't know ...if i'm standing there at 18....no way..and i don't care what kind of scene or fracas might have been caused....period.
where were those guys??....
anyway, i just can't bash the parents for letting them go...unofficial grad trips like that have truly become the norm down here
(hell, the kids got to the prom in helicopters these days..)but as i said earlier that practice might well take a nosedive in the future.
as far as my own kiddo goes??....he's 13 goin' on 47 i think....i've done my best to make sure that he knows what kind of world he lives in and i've also done my best to see that he manages to fit into it.....i know that i will not always be there....
...as far as trips go??..hell, he went to taekwondo camp with his black belt classmates and his instructors in alabama for a week when he was 9,10 and 11 years old....and never batted an eye....
(maybe it helps that he's a 2nd degree blk. belt and can certainnly hurt someone if he actually had to??)
really, i know kids who literally can't function if they get out of their mom's sight for 10 minutes....and that just doesn't seem to be preparing them for the actual self-reliance that will be needed just a short bit down the road...
well, i hope they find something soon to help natalee's parents with closure....admittedly,i have zero faith that's she's still with us....and all the faith in the world that at least 4 people know exactly why she cannot be found...
the whole investigation seems to be a sham....especially the time frames....just ridiculous...
ok, back to the salt mine.....heh,heh btw,...nice shot with the astro turf....
but hey, we have other claims to fame....except they usually involve serial killers, chem. plant explosions or the total collapse of major utility trading companies....oh, and zz top and the weed-eater....
go astros!
ry
houston,texas
8:13 AM
Ditto to the STUPID PARENTS. I completely agree. What asinine and reckless parent would even consider the odds of 4/140 for supervision as acceptable for a trip to anywhere!
Personally, I think the parents are milking the coverage for all it is worth as a way to control and spin the focus away from them.
Don't get me wrong, those who are guilty should PAY AND PAY! But, it does not change the fact that BUT FOR Natalee's parents permission, Natalee would not be missing or killed in Aruba!
Just as an aside, had this happened in the states I feel certain "negligent supervision" would be the buzz word of the day on cable news.
By the way, this is FL writing. And, just in case I get bashed, this Floridian speaks proper English, 4 other languages, has earned Bach & JD degrees, and has traveled extensively.
8:36 PM
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