Playground Politics were always such a bitch....

Remember in the '80's when the Psychologists' term of the month was "Get in touch with your inner child?" Many of us heard that and laughed. Some of heard that and started becoming concerned about having to register as a sex offender for the amount of times we touched our inner child..... Or maybe that was just me...... Anywho...... (awkward....) The phrase was meant to inspire adults to try to remember what it was like to be a kid. With the proliferation of the yuppie phenomenon and the economy on it's roller-coaster, people started working too much, stressing out all of the time, and just plain wearing themselves out. They went from a Dukes of Hazzard lunchbox to a 3 martini lunch at the little Italian joint downtown almost overnight. They woke up one day with all of this responsibility. No more all nighters with the Star Wars figures... It was stocks, bonds, mortgages, station wagons......and kids. They all of a sudden had to put away G.I. Joe or Barbie and start taking care of this little person on top of everything else. The kids wanted to be kids.... The parents wanted them to grow up. The Psychologists of the time said, "HEY!!!! Let them be kids!!!! Have you forgotten what it was like?" The adults didn't get it. They kept pushing and pushing. So the Psychologists had to come up with a way to grab the attention of said adults and make them WANT to get it. Hence... "Get in touch with your inner child." It had worked on the male population in the '70's. Remember? "Get in touch with your feminine side." The Psychologists figured either it could work on men AND women. Challenge them. Make them prove something. It's human nature to try and show the world that we are capable of doing something the world doesn't think we can do. So, the adults started getting in touch with their inner children. Movies were made about it. Remember Big? Tom Hanks breakout smash hit about the boy who wanted to be big, and then he was , and then he didn't want it anymore. How about Hook? (Yes, I know this one came out in 1991, but for all intents and purposes, it helps the story so back off!!!!!) The story of Peter Pan. Except Peter has grown up. He has forgotten how to "fly, fight, and crow..." It is not until he gets in touch with his Peter within....Hmmmmm.... That does not sound right..... Try something else....It is not until he sees his youth through the eyes of his children that he is able to live again. That's better.... Much better..... So, since the '80's, we have been trying our damnedest to keep this one alive. Whenever we find ourselves stressed, overworked or just plain bummed out, we call up that inner child and ask if they want to play. We bungee jump. We skydive. We dress up at Halloween. We host themed dinner parties that let us just have fun. We take our own kids to concerts and jump and dance and scream as loud as they do. We take them to sporting events and do all of the things we wanted to do as kids but weren't allowed to, like eat polish sausages, cotton candy and peanuts....Then we throw the shells on the ground and order one of those big cookies from the guy walking up and down the aisle just because..... Overall, I think we have done a pretty good job as a society at living up to and proving that we can do this. Sadly, though, there is a large segment of the population that has really fucked this endearing behavior up. There are those who have not only gotten in touch with their inner child, they also gave him a snuggie. They not only reverted back to their childhood ways in their extra-curricular activities, they also brought their child-like behavior into the boardroom. Into the bedroom. For whatever reason, they seem to believe that the playground politics work in everyday life. The philosophies of bullying, cliques, revenge, toy envy, and control have not only crept back into their lives, they have consumed these folks. These sad souls walk around everyday picking on the little guy so they can feel better about themselves. These pathetic people judge others solely by who they hang with as opposed to who they are as a person. These lonesome losers feel that every injustice deserves another injustice in return. These desperate dorks want what the neighbor has so bad that they are willing to destroy the neighbors posession just to make it all even steven again. These confused clowns think that being King Of The Hill gives them the right to push everyone around, even when they are not on the hill anymore. It's sad. It truly is. They have taken a simple, beautiful concept and turned it into something so painful, so hurtful, so goddamn worthless. That is what these people are. Worthless. I know you all know someone like this. You all know a bully. A control freak. An asshole. They are everywhere. They can be in our friendship circles. In our places of employ. In our homes. We may be acquainted with them. Assigned to work with them. Married to them. No matter how it is we come to know these freaks of nature, our number one goal now, and always should, be to avoid them. Get them out of our lives. The can do no good for us. They thrive on our suffering. They live to see our pain. Once we show them no pain, once we stop enduring the suffering and walk away, they lose their power. Just like the bully. Underneath all of the bravado and bullshit is a scared inner child that just wanted to play. Yeah? Well let them go play with themselves. I don't need 'em.