Bold Lines: Authority
One of the bolder lines I think for a child in our society and especially in southern culture is that of obedience to authority, particularly to that of the adult. Although this authority could apply to some of our contemporaries as well, like the school safety patrol or a babysitter who may have been only a few years older. However, it was clear to me that this obedience was owed to the likes of most if not all adults from my parents, grandparents, aunts and uncles, parents of my friends, teachers, coaches, preachers, police officers, boy scout leaders, school bus drivers etc. If you were an adult, it was clear that I was to mind you. And not only mind you, but be especially polite about it. “Yes Sir” and “Yes Mam” were almost always the correct responses to an adult request. And sincerity and tone were most important. Sarcasm was deemed disrespectful.
Overall, I think I was a pretty compliant and respectful kid. I don’t think I was a teacher’s pet, although I’m not sure how my childhood classmates might see it. But I generally liked to please adults, and people for that matter, and enjoyed the positive approval and feedback that was often a by-product.
I was rarely if ever dis-respectful, not intentionally anyway. I do remember one time in kindergarten when our class was having a nap time outside which was novel and exciting on its own. For some reason I had a small toy truck, like a Match Box car I mentioned earlier, and was pushing it around the top of my mat while I was supposed to be resting. Perhaps my teacher had already asked me once to stop and I hadn’t. Her next request then was for me to come up, pull down my pants to my underwear, and bend over her in front of our class for a spanking. I cringe at this more now than I seemed to have been affected at the time. This was one of my first teachers. I liked her a lot. And if she wanted me to strip to my underwear for a lesson on authority and obeyance, then who was I to question. One definition of authority is the power or right to give orders, make decisions, and enforce obedience. Adults certainly seemed to have this power.
I think a lot about where this authority comes from. Is it simply because adults are older and supposedly wiser that children are supposed to obey? Is it because they are most often taller and larger and can therefore hold their own and enforce their way by sheer size alone? And what about the adults who are not necessarily wise or well-meaning? Is a child simply to follow because the adult says, “Because I said so?” And why does there on some levels seem to be this condescension of children? I remember a once famous, now infamous entertainer and comedian in one of his monologues to get a laugh, making the statement regarding his own children, “I brought you into this world, I can take you out.” Now that’s authority, from beginning to end.
*Thanks for reading and/or listening. Continue to next post Authority continued. To read from the beginning please go to Why I'm Writing posted in the Archive.
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