Let's Talk About: Pregnancy.

Just a disclaimer before all the teenage moms start freaking out about what a blessing their child has been: fuck off. Really.

This must be the summer of love. Or perhaps the appropriate term is stupidity. I mean, this summer is probably no different than the rest as far as statistics go but in my personal experience, everyone and their brother has decided to get knocked up. Genius!!

I go to school four hours away from home so, for the most part, I'm out of touch with a lot of my area friends/acquaintances. I suppose this is for a reason...if I really wanted to know what was going on in their life, I'd bother them but that's not the kind of person I am. Huh. Anyway, upon arriving home this June, I found a letter addressed to me with the return address of a girl I've known since kindergarten. I was confused to find the return address of her parents so I opened the letter eagerly. "It's a Girl!" exclaimed the front of the card.

I shit you not...I nearly fell over.

This girl had been the star of our high school soccer team. She could've easily found some school to pay her way so long as she played. Not to mention, she was bright. Unfortunately, for whatever reasons, she decided not to continue her schooling after we graduated. The last time I met up with her (not even a year ago) she was living with an older guy who already had two kids and was divorced. Her mom appeared to be not so happy in her interactions with her and understandably so...her daughter was entirely too "on the ball" to be wasting her time watching someone else's kids. Her mom (and dad) were also notorious for being very strict throughout high school. She and I had been good friends and her parents were always on her back about her activities outside of school, soccer and work. We might have been doing some things we shouldn't have (smoking cigarettes, the occasional booze) but she was never a rebel or a fuck-up...nothing to be overly concerned about. Because of the way her parents always were, it was quite strange to open the baby shower invite and see that her mother was throwing it.

Needless to say, I didn't R.S.V.P. and I definitely didn't go.

I went to a distant cousin's graduation party a few weekends ago. I was expecting to see my female cousin who was around the same age as myself but when I asked her brother where she was, he said "she's at work." When I asked where his mom was, he said "at home with her baby." Well, that's news to me. Seems like just last September she was busted smoking weed. Now she's a mom? Talk about a bummer.

These are only two of the many girls I know who've recently gotten knocked up. I have but one question to girls under the age of 30 with no seriously committed boyfriend (ie husband), no higher education, no well-paying job, etc. and that is: what the fuck are you thinking?

These girls have yet to begin to live. You cannot possibly tell me you have done everything you feel you needed to before having kids at the tender age of 20-something. If you have, you've seriously miscalculated your purpose in the 21st century. The age we're in resembles nothing that was happening pre-1950. To simply graduate from high school and settle down and begin having babies is a joke. You are now permanently responsible for something outside of yourself. I doubt most girls my age have themselves well established enough to realistically fathom this.

Because the age we're in is nothing like it was back before the 1900's and even into the first half of the 20th century, men are nothing like they were. And when I say that, I mean they're not dependable. This is not to write all men off by any means. In fact, I believe men are justified in expecting their female counterpart to have a job, have money, have means for herself before attempting to partner with him for life but that's another entry. Because these girls are so young, I think it's safe to assume the fathers of their children are young as well. Aside from the fact men stereotypically mature slower than females, this is not a day in age where people normally get married at the age of 20. Maybe back in the 70's when our parents were young. Maybe. Even then, I can't imagine committing to something for the rest of your life with so little experience under your belt. If you're going to have a baby, you'd better realize absolutely nothing guarantees that this child's father will be around. He might claim to be in it for the long haul but really...he probably claimed he loved you before he so blatantly disrespected you by failing to use a condom or some other form of birth control...which brings me to another point:

The beauty of birth control. Pills, shots, IUDS, I can't even begin to name all the different options we have to protect ourselves from one of the worst STDs (yes, pregnancy is a STD). If you can't take advantage of such technology, take advantage of gas station bathrooms. Yes, they're absolutely disgusting 9 times out of 10 but they also have 25 cent (okay, maybe 50 with inflation) condoms! If you and your partner can't come up with a quarter each then perhaps you should be more interested in getting employed than you are in getting laid.

The most effective form of birth control is not abstinence. We all know that's what Bush is forcing sex ed classes to teach us in public high schools across the country but it's not realistic. Kids are still having sex. Unfortunately, we can't blame all the teenage pregnancies on the fact that Bush didn't allow us to practice putting condoms on bananas in health class. Who's never heard of a condom?

More importantly, who's never heard of an abortion?

I really love the girls who get up on their high horse about how against abortions they are and how they could never do that. How truly noble of you to ruin your life for the sake of a few cells that have yet to form a living being that can support itself without clinging to the side of your uterus. How truly admirable of you to have morality-based standards about abortions but no qualms about spreading your legs with random piece of shit men who aren't worth their weight in tin cans. (In case you're wondering, I think the average aluminum can goes for well under 5 cents and weighs about 1 gram. You do the math.)

I feel I have the right to bitch and moan about this because I truly feel sorry for these girls. At such a young age, they have decided they have nothing left to offer the world but a uterus with which to further crowd an overpopulated world. Quite unfortunate, no?

Everyone has the right to bitch and moan about this because, in the end, we will all pay for these foolish decisions made by others. These girls and guys making babies have yet to really contribute anything to society but feel no guilt about bringing a child into a world in which they've not managed to do their part in making it a better place.

Damn me. I believe having kids truly is a blessing...something one should be ready for and excited about, not surprised and unprepared. Kids aren't just an 18 year sentence to a no fun zone where you attempt to sneak a drink or puff in while they're asleep. I want to be sure I'm done being me (which is admittedly irresponsible) before I become a parent (the definition of responsible).



That's all for now, thanks for reading. :)




PS: The pics of your baby or documenting your pregnancy don't belong on MySpace. Please.