Where Are We Going--ReallY?!?!?!

So uh, I'm in flux right now. Starting some new challenges, trying to stay focused on existing goals while adopting new ones. Back to early morning rising. It's a transition, ya'll. Blessed to be in this position though. The writing, overall, has been doing well. But, I haven't been writing that much since I got back from New Orleans, which I absolutely frickin' loved! My boy just got married, and some friends were nice enough to spot me on airfare so I could attend. It was like medicine for my soul; I laughed so muh over that weekend. Good times.
SO, on to the point of this journal entry: I was talking with Papa Step yesterday (my stepfather), and he was remarking on the attitude and presentation of the young men and women who attend the college where my mother works. "...and he's standing there with his pants hanging under his but--under his butt so the whole world can see his nasty draws, and he's holding up his pants with one hand. Well shoot--we have belts for that!"And as he made his comment, I remembered certain familiar barbs when he referred to my generation, when I was in high school and college. Only this time, I agreed with him. See, my generation did the pants sagging thing, but not to the level they do it now. I kinda did the sagging thing, too, to be honest and fair. But I was more so a wear the pants low on the waste. I never liked the way most pants fit, and that's because, let's be frank, they're not designed with my body type/preference in mind. Might sound silly, but I know a lot of brothers--and especially sisters who would contend that a lot of the jeans, in particular, do not fit them properly. The cut is different through this hips, waste, and butt area--but I digress.
These kids are on a college campus, and they don't buy books for class. They try to BS their way through--which I KNOW my mother ain't going for. They try to justify their poor articulation and mastery of English by stating it's a southern thing. Well, my mother and all of her siblings grew up in the south--further south than ya'll, and guess what? Heck, all of my grand parents hail from the south--but they all know how to articulate. I'm just saying. The real question is, what is that WE--are doing? Seriously? We are so in love with everybody but ourselves that we play to the lowest common denominator. Why is that. Why are these kids wearing skinny jeans with their pants hanging beneath their butts, yet still have belts on? WHy do they think this looks good? Answer, because they saw somebody on TV do it. There was a time that what we saw on TV was trumped by what we saw at home. A time when my stepfather told me that if I ever wore my pants hanging off my butt, he wouldn't take me outside the house.
I'm all for self expression, but is it really self expression if everybody else is doing it? Do you young folks, do you. Not what you see on MTV, not what everybody in school are doing. Do you. Stop being a sheep and start being a shepherd to your own dreams. The world has enough of them, we'll only ever have one you if you choose to take up that burden.