75ZT Community

I had a 14 year old lad in front of me today in the weekend remand Court. The instant he appeared from custody his demeanour reminded me of Antonio Fargas in his role as Huggy Bear. This lad looked so very funny that it took an effort of will not to laugh.

Where you or I might walk the few steps from the top of the cell stairs to the seat in the dock without conscious thought, this lad seemed to consider it an opportunity to make the most outlandishly exaggerated demonstration of what I supposed was "chill".

His entire vocabulary seemed to have come from American films as well. At on point he said to the prosecutor:-

"I ain't no jive ass turkey man!"

I took the opportunity afforded and asked him what a jive ass turkey was. He was completely taken aback and for a few seconds floundered and blustered until, with a flash of genius, he composed himself and said, in his best Barry White voice:

"It is what it is man"

You had to be there to appreciate in full the comedy but I hope this has given you an indication

It is just such a crying shame that the lad had so little self esteem that he felt the need to rely upon such a clichéd persona

Enlightenment.

http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.p ... s%20turkey

Oh, I knew what it meant Mick. Unfortunately he didn't

It's events like this that remind you how similar comedy and tragedy are.

I blame the parents / schools / teachers / society / europe / liberals / hardliners / newspapers.

But seriously, I wonder how far the individual concerned believes what they are saying?

raistlin wrote:Oh, I knew what it meant Mick. Unfortunately he didn't

I hadn't a clue. Had to look it up.

This is a real tragedy, not only for the lad, but all of us. I am not very enamored with modern youth, but some are still sensible beings. Yes, all the reasons stated are partly to blame, but it is not the kids fault, it is just the world they were born into.

I think the main problem is that they are with their peers, from nursery school, to when they leave the education system, by which time they can be in their mid twenties, without having had much experienced adult influence. Their whole early life is spent with their 'mates', either in person, or via technology. Whilst they are more clued up about some adult things, like sex, they are very immature as a person. My generation mostly left school at 15, a few went onto 16 and a very tiny proportion went on to university. We quickly learned how to behave in an adult world, and we heard older folk talking about the ways of the world, equally, we were grateful for the wisdom passed onto us. The previous generation were even more mature; my uncle, who wanted to be a pilot, was killed in 1942, aged just 19.

In the 1970s and 80s, I was recruiting youngsters to work in our Parts Department (motor trade), and I always got them from the Job Centre (it may have been called the Labour Exchange then), and I specifically asked for non qualified youngsters, because I could teach them quickly about our specific requirements, without any of the preconceptions of the over educated. In nearly every case I was able to turn them into young men and women, with fair but firm management, so that we both knew where we stood. I also realised that people have strengths and weaknesses, but I was able to place each one in the specific job that they were comfortable with, and where I would get the best results. Sadly, I think those days are long gone.

Roverite.

What made it even more amusing / confusing, and something which I deliberately left out in my OP, the lad was of Lithuanian descent. We'd seen his family name before he appeared of course and I was somewhat concerned as to how I might pronounce it correctly, there being altogether too liberal a use of the last three letters of the alphabet for my liking

if that was me sitting there.my facial expression may have been akin to the roman guard in the life of brian.whilst the senator was upset of the mockery of his friends name.

Suffolk Man wrote:if that was me sitting there.my facial expression may have been akin to the roman guard in the life of brian.whilst the senator was upset of the mockery of his friends name.

That was about the size of it