Growing Up Brady!

Back in the fifth grade, I dreamt of being older because I imagined adult life was easier. It’s what I like to call the “Brady Bunch mentality.” In the Brady Bunch, the kids always had adolescent issues and the adults always had the answers. Oh, what a combination that is, the naiveté of a ten year old and the brainwashing power of TV!

Years later, when I was close to graduating from high school, I remember thinking I am close to adulthood, but my issues and interactions are no different from what they were on the fifth grade playground. Logically, I deduced that it would probably be in college that I began to feel like an adult. In college, I would likely have the answers as the adults did in the Brady Bunch. This was not to be true. Unfortunately, my relationships and issues were not significantly different in college either. Even then, I did not fully understand. I was still anxiously awaiting my Brady Bunch years, which I subsequently believed would start after college. Certainly, once I found a job, my adult life would begin. I looked forward to having a grown up’s clarity, with which I could solve even the most confusing of problems.

After college, I found a job in the entertainment industry, which I later learned was the place people go when they don’t want to grow up. This probably wasn't the best choice for someone seeking clarity. Within a few weeks of being on the job, I was introduced to the concept of office politics. For those of you who don’t know, office politics involve the exact same dynamics that were used on the playground, only in the office, these dynamics are quite structured according to the hierarchy. This means that child who was a bully in the fifth grade can only be a bully in the office if he or she is high enough in the hierarchy to be one. This also means that office politics often breed bullies out of people who never could have been bullies in nature. Scary, huh?

Even scarier are the world politics we witness day after day. A few days ago, I read the headlines of rhetoric from Iran’s newly re-elected President Ahmadinejad demanding an apology from President Obama for his comments following their election. The only thing I could think of was my fifth grade playground, and this or that kid arguing over whatever. Today’s banter between world leaders sounds more and more like, “You better not say nothin’ bad about my mama.” And just as it happens in the office, it is also true on the global playground. The hierarchy determines who the bullies will be, only the stakes are much higher. Instead of two kids fighting on the playground, thousands of troops are sent to battle wherever the biggest bullies choose.

Finally, I have realized the truth. “The Brady Bunch” was a false prophet for me. In reality, adults don’t have the answers and playground politics extend throughout all aspects of our entire lives. Still, in the back of my mind, I hope for a time when Brady Bunch solutions will apply and the answers to every problem will reveal themselves. I have a theory though. In the real world, I think we, or the Brady kids, will come up with our own solutions, reducing the need for the parents because in the real world, the parents are the bullies and who needs those.