I weep for my generation.

A friend called me today. She was venting about her situation at home, specifically her being the leader of her son's Odyssey of the Mind team. No, she wasn't complaining about having to do the work, but rather that she (and her son) were having to do more than their share of it.

Apparently, the parents of some of the other children just are not doing what they need to do to make the team work. Thus, my friend has the burden of picking up their slack.

"I hate this slacker generation," my friend exclaimed. What ever happened to concepts like duty and honour and fulfilling one's obligations?

What indeed?

I have long lamented the loss in our culture of things like duty and honour. Those concepts seem so quaint and passe in our "me and screw you" culture. Oh, to be sure, there are islands in the swirling sea of selfishness and self-absorbtion where duty and honour still exist, but those islands are becoming fewer and fewer. Such things can really cramp one's style and get in the way of "me time," don'cha know.

That's one of the reasons I love the Horatio Hornblower television movie series (and the books by C.F. Forester). Mr. Hornblower knows that duty and honour are singularly important concepts in this world. He does his duty, no matter at what cost to himself personally. Honour (read: personal integrity) is second nature to him. Would that we had more of that today.

Dear friend, I am as troubled as you at the state of things today. If you say you're going to do something, do it. Even if you didn't say you would do something, but it needs doing anyway, do it. It's just the right and honourable thing to do.