Ignorance is bliss

I took my boys to the pool yesterday--I'm a stay-at-home mom. It's summer. We pay a hefty annual membership. 'Nuf said.

After we'd been swimming for a while, had a potty break and were contemplating going home (because my pool tolerance limit is two hours MAX), we took a final dip in one of the pools, which was empty save for three teenage boys. As I tootled around the shallow end with Blue in his swim vest and legs wrapped around my waist (he was tired and required me to do all the work of playing in the pool) and Boogah practiced underwater handstands, I couldn't help but over hear the teenagers' conversation. To my surprise, they were discussing the candidates in the upcoming election and debating whether or not our current president was a success or a failure. Iraq was mentioned, 911 was mentioned (although, I doubt they truly remember too much of that since they were probably still at an age when their parents would have, hopefully, shielded them from the horror of those events). I was impressed to hear these young men discussing such mature topics. I've never been all that politically minded, so I don't know if I would have stood around in a circle at the pool having such a conversation when I was sixteen. Heck, I wouldn't even do that now. Where was the talk of parties or members of the opposite sex that were 'so hot?' I'm no sixteen year old male, but I expected to hear those type of topics being discussed down in the 5 feet part of the pool yesterday--not whether or not the American public is "ignorant" when it comes to the political issues of our time.

"Ignorant? You mean stupid? Americans are stupid?"
"Naw man, ignorant doesn't mean stupid. Well, it means that but it means something else, too."
"No, it's the same thing."
"No, you can be ignorant but that doesn't mean you're stupid."
"Well, then what does ignorant mean then?"
"I know what it means. It's like if you go up to the pool snack bar and you know what they sell, but you still ask them what they have."
"Oh."

Main Entry: ig·no·rant
Pronunciation: \ˈig-n(ə-)rənt\
Function: adjective
1 a: destitute of knowledge or education... also : lacking knowledge or comprehension of the thing specified... b: resulting from or showing lack of knowledge...
www.meriam-webster.com

They may have been a little fuzzy on the definition of ignorant, but these young men were far from stupid. It's comforting to know that the 'youth of today' thinks about more than the location of the next party. They are listening and reading, discussing and debating, and they're ready to tackle this crazy, f'd up world when their time comes. Let's just hope that they bring a dictionary along.