Unintended Consenquences Part II

Hello Bumby here,

This post is not the one that I have slaved over, the truth is after 5 drafts it was going nowhere, I was stuck, then last evening I pick up a book by the Great, Great, Great, Great Grand daughter of Cornelius Vanderbilt. From the reviews, it was going to be horrid, written by a ungrateful shrew. That my friends is what is called contempt prior to investigation.

I sat down on my favorite couch, blanket at the ready, glass of Sweet Tea on the side book table; ready to investigate. I read the dust cover, then settled in to read the prologue, I felt shame and sorrow by the time I was finished with page 8. At this point I felt sick, I had to decide at that moment if I was going to give up my precious time and read the rest of the book. I decided to read the last two chapters and low and behold my opinion did not change.

For me it’s all about perspective, I chose not to continue with the book and put a video recommended by a friend called… Consuming Kids: The Commercialization of Childhood. This video is only 67 min. long but it started me thinking again about my recurring themes. The themes of my childhood, as the product of or more aptly stated as the sum total of all that is WASP all that is Preppy and all that goes with being a Wealthy Southern Male. The over the top lengths that Mommy and Daddy went to make sure that I know who I was, and what was expected from me, and most importantly how to act and dress the same way that the generations before had done, all the while trying to maintain a ” normal ” childhood. From the schools that I was to attend to what shoes that I would wear and to what events I would attend. The not so subtle  branding: Brooks Brothers, L.L.Bean, J. Press, Bass Weejuns,  Clark Wallabees, Sperry Topsiders, Boxers not briefs , hand made wooden boats , Fly fishing  and all the gear, I learned very early in childhood that Polo was not a  brand but a sport, then came the Family Branding ,the list goes on and on. I grew up playing outside, I distinctly recall the immortal words ” Not in the house, go outside and play” and of course  “Stop hitting your sister” and the always popular ” Be Home for Dinner” The more I reflect on the messages that were sent to me, the more convinced  I am that no matter how screwed up I am, or my family seems to be, They provided me with just enough Branding messages to keep me loyal to my brands and yet, because my brands change little… I change little. The message of this video disturbed me … What kind of a generational mess are we as a society creating, and most importantly how do we stop it. I think that it is mine and yours …OUR responsibility to reverse this disaster. The rate of decline of our children, childhood obesity all seem to be related. The pat answers from Brands and Media seems to be It is the Parents responsibility not theirs . They will continue to to rape and pillage our youth until we all say to the companies that are marketing to our children Enough.

I said earlier that for me it’s all about perspective,  Do I want to take the time to read the ramblings of an  ungrateful shrew or spend 67 min. watching something that will lead me to action.

I wrote this post. What are you going to do?  I wonder, what will be the unintended consequences of you reading this post? What will be mine, How will my perspective change? Will I get up off my WASP ass and do something? ???? These things I will ponder as I sip on a tall glass of Sweet Tea, in my Chinos from Brooks, wearing my J.Press Bn,  and wearing the Weejuns that I bought 30 years ago.

Always Bumby

The Preppy Chronicles Edition one Vol 10

Tags: Bass Weejuns, Brooks Brothers, Clark Wallabees, Cornelius Vanderbilt, Dr.Michael Rich, J.Press, L.L.Bean, Personal Responsibility, Perspective, Preppy and WASP Lifestyles, Preppy Chronicles, Sperry Topsiders, The Preppy/WASP lifestyle

This entry was posted on May 20, 2010 at 3:56 PM and is filed under All that's Preppy/WASP. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.