Re: Eldest or rebel?

"Robert Bolton" <robertboltondrop@xxxxxxx> wrote in
news:1207qq542tasq36@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx:


"High Plains Thumper" <hpt@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote in message
news:Xns9778D01F02A9Ehpt@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
"Robert Bolton" wrote:
"NZMSC" wrote ...

I've just been reading an interesting article on the importance of
birth order in the formulation of one's personality.

In it, the writer says: "Birth order forces us into niches. We
adapt our personalities as part of our strategy to curry favor with
Mom and Dad. Older siblings might generally be a little brainier.
But younger ones tend to become rebels. Sulloway studied political
activists and, after adjusting for family size and social class,
found that later-born activists were more radical than their
first-born peers."

OK, my study has indicated that motorcyclists are, if you will,
rebels.

So, let's check this out. Here's the question: are you the first
born of the children in your family.

From oldest to youngest -

Girl - Some college but marriage and kids ended that. Got better
grades than I. Dad's favorite. Is a book keeper.

Boy (Me) - Electrial Engineer. Mom's favorite. Did all the boy
chores while mom did the girl chores.

Girl - Family economic condition lead her to skip college and go
straight to work. Grouchy as a kid. Was Ok for several years but
is back to being a grouch. Financial Administrator at the U.

Boy - Had great difficulty in school. Doesn't read well. Knows
mechanics, carpenter by profession. Copied dad's style, so was
Dad's favorite male child.

Girl - Also a little below average in school, but better than her
older brother. Manages a grocery store. The most emotionally
stable/normal of us all.

Boy - Very smart. He and I were very close. He copied my style but
couldn't get away from drugs and booze. I haven't told anyone, but
his ex-wife told me "The Hot Dog Man" (a vendor downtown) molested
him when he was a boy. Abuses women. Is awaiting trial for murder
and half a dozen other felonies as a result of manning up to another
guy who was having a road rage moment. Was a cook.

Maybe a little more than you were looking for, but it seems to fit
the pattern.

So the one out of place is the electrical engineer? ;-)

My wife says I'm unique, but she doesn't always mean that in a good
way.

Is that followed up with something like, "Why can't you be like other
husbands, like Helen's Joe .... (ad nauseum)" BTDT, I'm an ME by trade."

I was really thinking more along the lines of the older kids
doing better in school, etc. I think older kids get more adult
supervision, middle kids share the parents with the older kids, then
the youngest gets less attention from parents but more from middle and
older siblings as the older ones help the parents take care of the
kids. I think the youngest receive less parental supervision, enjoy
fewer responsibilities, and so are likely to be less repressed than
their eldest siblings.

I think it is hard to stereotype. Some kids receive poor parenting, turn
out good, others good parenting, turn out bad. There are factors that
affect emotional makeup, hurts, scars, victories, etc. One thing that
makes us each different is our will to choose. With freedom of choice,
some choose wrongly.

It appears the majority of this group includes those closer to first
born. Perhaps on average younger siblings don't spend a lot of time in
newsgroups. Maybe riding a motorcycle isn't so much a rebel sign as a
sign of confidence in one's own abilities or a leaning toward physical
activities. Maybe the ones who helped take care of the kids and did
the chores are more confident in their abilities. I think many people
choose not to ride because they are afraid of getting hurt.

I think it goes to show that riding a motorcycle has little to do with
one's status in the family. It is not a sign of rebellion, it is the
sign of a free willing choice made on behalf of the rider.

By the same free willing choice some choose not to ride. It is their
perogative.

I learned to ride out of necessity, in 1979 I had a petrol hog of a car,
1968 Chevy Caprice. When I replaced it with a used 1971 Honda CB100, my
petrol bill dropped from $40 US per month to $10, my insurance from $330
a year to $50, University parking fee from $65 per semester to $5.

Then I found out I really liked that little motorcycle and kept it since,
albeit now with different motor because I totally thrashed the original
one.

Perhaps I am being like Linus in the Peanuts cartoon by Charles Shultz,
my CB100 has become a security blanket, now worn as a sportcoat?

May be when I am too old to ride, I'll have the scooter store put the
CB100 gas tank on my new senior's scooter.

--
HPT
.

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