J.R. Tidwell

Sports Editor

I have been a proponent of teaching the younger generation to have matters and be courteous for years. In my perfect world children would mind their parents and have a little integrity, work ethic and pride in what they do.
I found out the hard way, however, that teaching younger people to be polite can have unintended consequences.
I was leaving the Walmart in Russellville late one night when a lot attendant asked to take the shopping cart I had used to wheel my groceries to my vehicle.
He was a friendly and polite young fellow, and I was more than happy to make his life — and mine — a little easier through this exchange.
It was when he was walking away that he muttered such a terrible phrase that I was forced to take pause.
“Have a good day, sir.”
Sir? Really kid, you are going to sir me? Granted, everyone his age should have good manners and he was only being nice/polite, and I applaud the guy for it.
The thing is, I am only 23 myself. If I had written these words a week ago, the aforementioned number would have been 22.
He unintentionally — and through no fault of his own — made me feel old. I just graduated from UNA this July, but these darn kids and their manners are making me feel like an old geezer.
This is a catch-22. Should I tell the kid “no, you do not have to sir me,” or should I take the other route and say “hey kid, nice manners,” and then throw him a football jersey after drinking his coke?
The best possible solution in this case is for me to bite the bullet and realize that I’m not some young whippersnapper anymore, but an adult with a full-time job who has bills and pays taxes.
I still take solace in the fact that the majority of people around me have me beat in the age department, but the young guns I see at the different county schools look at me as an “older” person just like I look at the people above my age.
This could actually mark a milestone in my life depending on how I look at it. I survived the teenage wasteland and came out with three diplomas, a degree in journalism and a good education that led me directly into the career of my choice.
That in itself is an epic win.
I do not feel quite ready to get my zipper caught in my chest hair and yell at kids for loitering on my lawn, so I guess my free time of internet use, television watching and playing video games will just have to continue.
That is, right up until that obnoxious 12-year old kills me for the 16th straight time on Halo Reach.
Those darn  kids.