Following a mother’s histrionic Facebook rant about childless couples at Disney World, whether childless adults ought to be allowed to go to amusement parks became the latest moronic controversy to be mad about on the internet.
This is my new favorite wild mommy post. It’s me, the millennial slut who just goes to Disney World to make children cry pic.twitter.com/COokEiTdMm
— Jen ? Gen Con??? (@JenKatWrites) July 19, 2019
This is the news cycle that inevitably emerges during the longest domestic bull market in history, decades of domestic tranquility, centuries of democracy, and an entire electorate desensitized to living in the greatest time and place in human history. You get angry because other people are having a nice time in a place you’re also supposed to be having a nice time.
“The usual complaint about those born between 1981 and 1996 remaining constant 12-year-olds is that the behavior amounts to self-infantilization and a lifelong immaturity that bleeds into basic decision making: getting jobs, paying bills, staying alive,” Johnny Oleksinski wisely wrote in the New York Post. “But another oft ignored problem with letting a kids brand control your adult life is the stupidity and culture ignorance it leads to. You’re skipping great films such as ‘Booksmart’ and ‘The Farewell’ to relive second grade.”
For what it’s worth, I understand becoming annoyed with a group of screaming sorority girls sprinting around Disney World for Instagram. But that has nothing to do with age. If you’re a negligent parent ignoring your screaming children sprinting around Disney World, it’s just as annoying. But to chalk up your irritation to age, much less directed at a couple minding their own business and effectively subsidizing the costs of reduced-price tickets for children, you ought to re-evaluate your priorities and why watching other people enjoy themselves infuriates you, viscerally and personally.
Maybe life is just too good, and we’re simply metastasizing back to a level of tribalism where busybody parents have to hate on the younger generation — not for taking out trillions of dollars in student loans for useless degrees and then demanding taxpayers bail them out, but for having the cash and desire to enjoy a day at Disney World.
In any case, if you find yourself about to debase yourself on the internet because some lovebird had the audacity to wear shorts in the summer and buy a pretzel, log off. Go hang out with your kids.
