Culturally Different

In the last couple of weeks, I read Bringing Up Bébé by Pamela Druckerman. For those of you not in the know, this is a memoir of sorts that Ms. Druckerman wrote about her experiences as an American mother raising children in France. I found myself laughing and learning frequently in this book. I rarely read memoirs, in fact, this may be the first I've ever sat through, but the subject matter was intriguing to me: how the French raise their children. Culturally, it's quite different than we Americans raise our kids, and I found myself wishing that even for a few years, my kids could have the influence of the French.

One thing I found intriguing was the idea of expectations. In one chapter, Ms. Druckerman describes how the expectations of life are much different in France than in America, and it filters into their literature, especially for kids. Where in our children's books, we have a story that gets resolved in most cases, and things become "perfect" (or as close to perfect as the author can make them so they're left with a feel-good effect), the French stories published on the other side of the pond are more true to life. She describes one story in a very popular French children's series where one character is mean to another (don't remember the context now, and I had to return the book to my library!) They work on the problem through the book, and I believe the mean child eventually apologizes to the other character... In an American book, that'd be the end of it, but the French book finishes with a final scene where the mean child repeats the same type of offense as originally started at the beginning of the book.

While I thoroughly enjoyed all of the rest of the book, and have learned several things that I'm going to try to implement with my own children, that story about French literature really stuck out to me, probably because I'm a storyteller. I love the art of storytelling, love learning about the so-called "rules," love digging in to my own stories to figure out what's working and what's not.

And I can't help but think I've approached it in a fully American way.

In adult fiction, it's a bit easier to have an ambiguous ending to a story. Fine. We're adults, we can handle it. But, I can't think of any stories I've read to my kids where there's not a happy ending. And, as Ms. Druckerman pointed out, that's not really all that true to life. It leaves kids with a false sense of what should happen in life, that our problems can be solved easily, when often, things are much more complex.

I love a happy ending just as much as anyone. I always get a bit teary-eyed at the end of Return of the Jedi when Han and Leia come to terms, and it's obvious they'll be getting together. Same goes for the end of Pride & Prejudice, and a whole host of other books and movies.

But, should we always let our kids watch shows or read books where problems are easily, and fully, resolved? Wouldn't it be better to expose them to life, and give them a sense that life isn't going to always be full of lollipops, roses, and puppies? As in the French book referenced in Bringing Up Bébé, wouldn't be better to let our kids know that friends won't always repent, and are just as likely to repeat the same offenses over and over?

I, for one, think that would be a benefit to kids.

What are your thoughts? Do you remember reading any books with ambiguous endings as a child, or were all your book choices ended in a happy way?

Until next time...

Amazon Drones On

So, the big news in the last week, among other things, was that Amazon.com was researching the idea of using drones to deliver packages near their repositories.

Source: BBC

This is an interesting idea, but I have mixed feelings about it.

First, my pro-side says that this could really speed up deliveries. Don't have to worry too much about UPS trucks catching fire and burning your package to tho dust. For those outside the distance that would be served, it would free up delivery space so you'd probably see improved response, too. And, it would probably be something that would allow Amazon Fresh to expand into other markets, too. (While I haven't used the service, I saw the delivery vans while in Seattle for 5 1/2 months with my son earlier this year.)

So, yea! Speedier deliveries!

However, another story from a few months ago niggled in my brain when I heard about this.

I believe it was in Colorado (and probably other jurisdicitons as well) where certain towns and counties were considering offering a bounty for drones being shot down.

Now, I'm a conservative, bordering on libertarian. I try to keep that part off this blog for a reason (mostly because I don't want a lot of fighting and hate on my blog, but also because there's an international audience to this blog who really couldn't give a rat's behind about my occasional opinions on politics.) Where my philosophy comes in is that I honestly don't see a problem with shooting down government drones because they've overstepped their bounds of privacy on the individual. But, what if some nincompoop shoots down the Amazon drone bringing me a new battery for my laptop or a box filled with my books for a book signing, thinking it's a government drone? What happens then?

I haven't seen a drone in person, just pictures on the internet, and on the news. However, I think they're rather small, especially the ones demoed on the evening news for Amazon the other night. Unless your average Joe with his high-powered rifle has a very exceptional scope, he's probably not going to be able to tell the difference between a drone launched by the EPA surveying cattle emissions and one launched from the Amazon hub nearby making deliveries.

While I think the idea of having a drone make deliveries for companies is an applaudable, I do think these companies would be remiss if they didn't investigate the legalities of what happens if their drone gets shot down. I'm sure they've got teams of lawyers looking at these laws already--at least, I hope they do!

Legislatures will need to stay current with this as these new technologies come into commonality as well. Unfortunately, our legislative process does move quite slowly in most instances--and for good reason. But this will be a topic that our legislatures and city councils across our country will need to stay on top of, and work to find ways to protect our free economy.

There's a lot to think about as these new technologies become commonplace. (I, personally, am waiting for my transporter, food replicator, and lightsaber!) It would behoove us to be thoughtful as we decide how to integrate them into our lives.

Until next time...

Oh, P.S.

I'm not going to make a huge deal out of it because it's ONE story, but I did post my first self-published short story on Amazon yesterday for $0.99. If you feel so inclined, go take a peek.  It won an honorable mention in the Team PYP short story project in 2011/2012. This is the first time it's been seen outside of the Team PYP group. Enjoy!