Our family did something this past Saturday that we’ve never done before.  All four of us took a family outing to the Mall.  Of course Beth and I have been to mall many times, and Jaxon has been a few times.  Actually, it’s been a long time since I’ve been to the mall.  I think it was last Christmas since I’ve been to a major mall like the Parks.  As we got to the mall and began walking around, I quickly felt very “out of place”.  It was like we had just landed on a different planet.  I actually used to like going to the mall.  I’m not sure how to describe them, but they people there are much different than the people I’m used to being around.  I’m sure that probably says something about me and my little sheltered world.  As we were walking from store to store, there were 3 young guys, probably age 18-20, walking right behind us, talking very loud, and just using every kind of profane word you can imagine.  They dropped the F-bomb probably about 10 times in a 20 second period.  I’m thinking, what kind of people would have such little respect for women and children as to talk like that around them?

Later that night, I was in the Wal-Mart parking lot, and there was, what I assumed was, a family.  It was a man, a woman, and  2 small children.  The woman was talking to the man, and she let out a string of F-bombs.  At first I thought she was mad at him and about to slug him, but when I looked they were both smiling.  At that point, I realized that there are many kids growing up today that hear that language all the time from their own parents.  So why would these young people growing up today think it’s disrespectful to talk like that?  That’s how their own parents talk to them.  It’s sad that’s what our society has come to.  But for those of us that rarely make it outside of our own little protective bubble, we really need to venture out a little more and see how the rest of the world lives.  I guess for me, that means going to the mall.