Yeah, kids (and parents) today! Why, back in my day it was just cocaine and sex with teachers! (I went to the less-prestigious Montclair in Van Nuys.)
While a parent shouldn’t (first) be a kid’s friend, your ice cream example presumes that the parent would treat a server any differently.
The buffet anecdote leaves vital information out. Did he TRY the food first? Did it suck? Are you really suggesting that a child–with today’s rampant obesity–should be required to eat food he doesn’t want to because–what, because there are kids in Africa who don’t have crappy buffets?
By pointing out that there was plenty left, he was saying (rightly) that he wasn’t depriving anyone of anything by not eating something he didn’t want to. At worst, a mild capriciousness more suited to a 5-year-old.
You can always find bad examples of juvenile behavior and parents who ignore or encourage it. I could fill a hard-drive with what I’ve seen.
I suppose, pre-60s there was a certain degree of conformity and shame that doesn’t exist now, but has that much changed (in this regard) in the past 40 years?
