The Mom Gene

When does the Mom Gene kick in? I think there is an equivalent Dad Gene. These genes come into full flourish when you have kids, and peek when you have teenagers. These genes are essentially common sense.

We are discussing where to go on future vacations, and Thailand is on the list as Jack has family there. We were looking at a book called A Day in the Life of Thailand. In this book, there was a photo of man getting a tattoo and writhing in pain. Claire Adele said, "When we go to Thailand I can get a tattoo!"

"No way," I said.

"Why not?" said she.

"Hepa-fucking-titis," said I.

"Oh," said Claire Adele.

Jack came back from walking Fox and we told him of Claire Adele's idea.

"You'll get HIV," he said without blinking. It isn't just me with the hyper-vigilance. I bet anyone over the age of 35 would have a similar response.

When does this gene kick in, the gene that sees potential problems in almost any idea? One could say that teenagers have a greater thrill seeking sense, and don't see potential dangers. This is normal for teenagers, but is it also normal for adults to go through a similar overprotective phase, and why isn't is discussed as a phase? Is it because we are an adult-normative society and adults get to write articles and books about challenging teenage behavior? What if we lived in a society ruled by teens? Would this parental common sense be mocked? What will happen in 20 or 40 years? Will this caution get better or worse? When I am 80, will I say, "Sure get a tattoo in Thailand! How many people really have died or gotten sick from a bad needle? Just how bad is HIV or Hep-C? Aren't there decent medications for that now?" Or will it be worse, seeing fear in places where it might not exist? "Don't go to Thailand because you might get mugged! Don't go downtown because you might get mugged! Don't leave the house because you might get mugged!"

Back in my college economics courses, we would draw optimization charts, where two curves with two sets of data would meet. Where is the optimization chart that defines the age that best maximized risk versus caution?  Here is my best guess and sad attempt at an optimization graph for risk versus caution. I would actually move the sweet spot to age 25, maybe 30.