The Glade 4.0

I've been using this show as my sleep aid now that it's on Netflix. It's entertaining enough but not so hilarious it keeps me awake.

One thing I find a bit odd is a particular joke (that was used more than once) that I'm a bit baffled at. It's one that either shows that we have double standards as a society or that a joke like this just was generally more accepted back in the eighties.

The joke is basically how Sam brags that his "first time" was in the sixth grade with a crossing guard. Simple enough unless you think about it. Sixth graders are either eleven or twelve years old. Crossing guards are typically mothers, or at least women out of high school.

Essentially it's a joke about statutory rape and pedophilia.

Again, I don't know if it flies because of double standards or what. I just find it peculiar and interesting.

Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using Tapatalk 2

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Les Zombis et les Loups-Garous!

Yes, it's a double standard.
If it makes you feel any better, "Sam" probably was more like 14 in the sixth grade, owing to the likelihood that he was forced to repeat a few grades here and there.
There's also a "not always a problem" attitude with regards to statutory rape. A lot of people simply don't think it's a big deal unless the age gap is huge, the minor is really young, or the minor is genuinely non-consenting. And the genders of the individuals plays a role, as well.
A 60-yr old man forcing himself on a 9-yr old girl while she struggles and cries? You'd be hard-pressed to find anyone who wouldn't be outraged, and you'd probably want to sentence them to the same punishment as the old man who committed the act.
A 22-yr old girl who gets picked up in a bar by a 17-yr old guy with a fake ID? Good luck finding very many people who wouldn't simply high-five the high-school kid.

When people think about Sam Malone getting laid in sixth grade, they're not thinking about someone's grandma molesting a pre-teen boy against his will; they're thinking about a natural-born Don Juan getting an early start on what will become a years-long epic tale of one-night stands with beautiful women.

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Go back to zero, take a pill, and get well ~ Lemmy Kilmister

Also, crossing guards are usually just older kids, around here anyway.

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“The duty of a patriot is to protect his country from its government.” - Thomas Paine

If Sam were female, there would still be outrage that "she" was raped. Therein lies the double standard.

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Buckle your pants or they might fall down.

Yeah that's where I was going with it.

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Les Zombis et les Loups-Garous!

To be fair, all of the crossing guards in my elementary schools were 5th and 6th grade kids. I did it for a couple of years myself.

Yea, i think most, if not all of the schools around here have students working the crosswalks. Presumably with some adult supervision nearby.

In my state it's always been people over the age of 20. Usually over 30. It's been this way since at least the time I was going to elementary school myself. Now I see nothing but stay-at-home moms who do the crossing guard thing, bringing their not-yet-in-school kids with them.

I guess the question would be more about the age of the crossing guards in Boston in the 60s.

Looking at a few crossing guard postings all seem to require high school diplomas. Likely they don't let kids do any crossing guard stuff here is because they have to work the "20 mph" flashing signs as well.

But still, the point I was making that there is a double standard. And that exists regardless. If a young boy gets sexed up by an experienced woman, the general reaction seems to be "Right on!" instead of shock.

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Les Zombis et les Loups-Garous!

Well, sure, but the women still get prosecuted.

"The Big List" of female teachers sexing up students
http://www.wnd.com/2012/11/39783/

Wow. A lot of them are kinda hot...

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Holy shitsnacks!

Also this was back in the 80s when people realized that fiction was- ya know- fictional and stuff.

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I prefer to think of them as "Fighting evil in another dimension"

When I was in elementary school, there was only one adult crossing guard. The others were all kids.

I have also never seen an adult crossing guard that was attractive in my life. The two young 'coaches' at my daughter's school (they call the gym teachers 'coach') are good looking young men, but they're teachers, not just crossing guards.

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"Hysterical children shrieking about right-wing anything need to go sit in the corner and be quiet while the adults are talking."

I worked as a crossing guard for SJPD for ~10 years after my son was born. My son's school had student crossing guards with adult supervision. The adult crossing guards, such as myself, worked the higher traffic crossings.

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"Said I never had much use for one, never said I didn't know how to use one!"~ Matthew Quigley

"nothing like a little meow in bed at night" ~ Bruskey

"I gotta float my stick same as you" Hondo Lane

"Fill your hand you son of a *****!"

We had a student "Safety Patrol" who handled some crossings but only in terms of directing students. The Crossing Guards were paid employees of the city (or school district, not sure which) and wore a uniform, stood in traffic and directed automobiles.

And the public's ears were too sensitive to hear the cutting damage of words like "damn" and "*****" on primetime shows. "Fictional joke about statutory rape? Sure. But don't you dare make him say "hell"!

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Les Zombis et les Loups-Garous!

There's a late 70's George Carlin HBO special on netflix that discusses this strangeness.

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Well Ali Baba had them forty thieves, Scheherezade had a thousand tales
But master you in luck 'cause up your sleeves you got a brand of magic never fails...
...Mister Aladdin, sir, What will your pleasure be?
Let me take your order, Jot it down -You ain't never had a friend like me
█ ♣ █

As a big fan of Cheers, I have to admit that there are times that I cringe. Then again, watch The Honeymooners sometime. Jackie Gleason can have you in stitches one moment, then the next he's threatening to beat up his wife. More cringing.

I'm sure there are things being shown on TV today that will make us or our children cringe in ten years, but I couldn't put my finger on them.

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This cold and dark tormented hell
Is all I`ll ever know
So when you get to heaven
May the devil be the judge

I'll second the note of "back when people knew fiction was fiction". Ever since the news story about the first or second grader being suspended for kissing a girl on the playground, I've been wondering when we're going to reach the critical mass of over-sensitive idiocy.

I was a crossing guard in the 6th grade. They were always kids with a teacher somewhat supervising.

OMG, you dirty tramp! (If Sam is to be believed).

I think it's less about "knowing what's fiction" and more about having a different set of societal tolerance and acceptance for certain things, but not for others. Sexism, homophobia, and racism were all quite a bit tolerated by society's television viewing habits in the '80s and beforehand. Yet there were still crazy taboos that the public would have an outrage over.

For instance, they liked their sex more in the form of innuendo and implications. There were some rather dirty jokes in the days of yore, but they were *wink wink* *nudge nudge* *youknowwhatI'mtalkinabout*. Getting any more forward than that and folks would demand someone's head on a pike. And don't even think about saying words, even clinical word terms, like penis or vagina. Hell is reserved for those people! Sinners.

It's not that today's society is offended at the drop of a hat by today's television compared to yesteryear. If it were, we'd be living in Demolition Man's future and our favorite song would be "I want to be an Oscar Mayer wiener." It's that today's societies tolerances have shifted. Jokes about statutory rape, racism, homophobia, and sexism aren't tolerated. But cuss words and onscreen violence are very much more so (which with the latter I would argue requires an even more "knowing what's fiction" mindset).

Sure, you get the nutjobs who get way too offended over some things. But I think they are more out to make their mark on the world and a name for themselves than actually trying to better society.

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Les Zombis et les Loups-Garous!

It might be that with greater publicity its simply harder to laugh about such things. If you know someone whose been the victim of pedophilia it's probably more difficult to find the humor.