CHAPTER NINETEEN: The Eleventh Tuesday, We Talk About Our Culture

"With the departure of our good friend Trinity, I thought a good discussion topic would be our culture," House said as I sat down beside him.

I sighed. "Don't talk about Trinity. It'll only make me depressed."

"Culture is a funny thing, isn't it?" House asked rhetorically, ignoring my request. "Especially here in America."

"Things are getting bad here," I commented.

House eyed me with his sparkling sapphires. "Care to elaborate on that, Mr. I'm-Australian-So-I'm-Too-Good-For-All-These-Bloody-American-Relpusions?"

I snickered slightly. "Well, don't you agree? I mean, for starters, look how barbarically discourteous everyone seems to be."

Feigning hurt feelings, House whimpered, "Is that supposed to be a knock at me?"

I shook my head, saying, "Of course not. I just mean that…well, look around. It's quite frightening really. We pass people on the street and if we smile or wave, it's almost daring fore we do not know what we shall get in return. We only laugh at things that are inhumane or grotesque, instead of laughing when things are genuinely SUPPOSED to make us laugh. Oh, I could go on and on, and I am sure you could as well."

"I do see your points, Chase. And you're right, I could name a few dozen more things that are wrong with society. Laziness, ignorance, crime…Why do think it is this way?" House asked.

I shrugged. "How would we ever know?"

"Let's see. When did things start getting funky? 50's were a pretty clean time. 60's…starting getting into drugs and such, but not like today. 70's, more drugs. 80's, more drugs. 90's…well, all of it. What happened?"

"Drugs seem to play a role."

"Maybe, but I know plenty of people who have never met Mary Jane or Coco Cane but they are as rude, lazy, and stupid as the next person."

I replied, "Yeah, me too. Hmmm…well, maybe it has to do with the whole idea of being an adult. All the kids want to grow up faster and all the adults want them to. Kids want to have the right of adults, adults want kids to have the responsibilities."

House leaned forward excitedly. "Yeah, yeah, that's good, Chase. And I think you're right. Well, at least partially. I don't think even Sherlock Holmes could deduct every component to our failing society, but when kids hit twelve they seem to think they are independent. They are allowed to swear, talk about sex, everything just like adults. That's the not the way it should be. I mean, granted it's just as bad to treat children like babies. They are smarter than they look and should be treated with respect, but middle schoolers doing drugs and having sex? That's just…unbelievable."

"I know. It is. But it's not just the kids. Adults can be pretty nasty as well."

"You know what, Chase? I think everyone needs to turn off the TV, sit down with a beautiful piece of literature, and then discuss it with friends and family," House said.

I was confused. "Yes, that does sound nice, but what does that have to do with our societal strife?"

"Think about it. It covers a lot of the bases. First of all, choosing books instead of TV. I admit I couldn't live without General Hospital and the O.C., but so few adults or kids enjoy reading these days, and even less, talking. Discussing. Opening their minds to new ideas. That covers laziness, lack of communication, ignorance, minds filled with nothing but celebrities, sex, and probably about a billion other things."

"Yeah. Yeah, I think you're onto something as well. Don't grow up too fast or think you're too old to improve yourself," I said, smiling. "I like the sound of that."