Being a grown-up

At some stage one must decide whether or not you perceive yourself to be a grown up. And only once you comprehend how deep the definition of being a grown up goes can you actually honestly proclaim whether you belong to this sub sect of the human population.

In legal terms, it's fairly easy, depending on where you live. At either 18 or 21, in most places around the globe, you begin your journey as an adult. You can smoke, drive, drink and sign legal documents. And the majority of us celebrate reaching this age, and often times we do things to prove our independence and maturity, which, in hindsight, were not mature at all! We started doing things simply because we could. We ignored our parents' advice, we got ourselves into debt, we made mistakes, and we made them thick and fast. And if we were ever questioned then we would react defiantly and shout to the heavens "I am an adult, stop telling me what to do!" And so often one then ended up doing something regrettable.

I think one can consider yourself a grown up when you own up to your mistakes and take responsibility, true responsibility. One is a grown up when the blame shifting ends and one is true with oneself, about the big things and the little things. One is grown up not simply because one has to now pay bills and work a job. One becomes a grown up when you realise that your actions affect far more than just yourself and you thus act accordingly. This is what makes being a grown up really sucky sometimes, as petulance and selfishness shouldn't be part of the bigger make up of a grown up. (Which is also why I know many so called "adults" who in my mind are mere children)

There are perks though to being a grown up though, as there is to anything in life. The parties, the impromptu road trips, the sex, the freedom to walk around naked in your house, the money, the opportunities that a kid can only dream of. Only as a grown up can you appreciate the truth and honesty of life, and only as a grown up can you see the real value of friendship and love. Being a grown up can be a bitch sometimes, and often I think of myself as a girl, instead of a woman, as being a woman means that I'm a grown up, and I still like partying and acting like a 21 year old. The truth however is that I am a grown up, and most of the time it's so much better than being a naive child.

Desperation has its own song!

Okay, so, this little melody has climbed up the charts, is a complete EAR WORM and has made the singer super famous super fast. In my opinion though it is bad. How bad? I change radio stations when it comes on. How bad? There was this awesome compilation album that I wanted, but I refrained from buying it because this song was one of the tracks on a two disk album. Yes, that is how much I despise Carly Rae Jepson's "Call Me Maybe".

Don't get me wrong, it has all the elements of a one hit wonder - young pretty girl, catchy melody, very easy to remember lyrics, and therein lies the problem - the lyrics of that damn chorus! It just sounds like the epitome of desperation to me.

Here's how I see it - girl meets boy,  girl likes boy, clearly more than boy likes girl. Girl makes her intentions and feelings clear to boy within the first five minutes of knowing him, giving her number, and then says "call me maybe" It all stinks to holy hell of desperation. Most men would take it as an invitation to shag her and then go on his merry way. And then she'll be all hurt and crying, but in my opinion it would be her own damn fault, she gave it to him on a silver platter! He didn't ask for her number, he didn't indicate that he wants to call her or see her again, he didn't even fully indicate that he likes her that way!! But she went ahead and gave her number away like a piece of candy, opening herself up to a world of hurt.

Either that...or I'm missing something...which I doubt. Essentially, this is the song that pre-teens and teens are listening to and singing along to, and being the impressionable little souls that they are, in next to no time we'll have twelve year old's giving their numbers to boys cooing "call me maybe" which will lead to an entire generational problem. I shudder just imagining it.

In conclusion, for the love of Zeus, can this song get less airplay??? The message is not as cute as y'all think!