Miami Girl Gets Lexus for Sweet 16, Has a Tantrum at Mother.

[Matsubara]

I could swear this happened like a year ago, but here they go again.

VIDEO:

http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x2d2lt_audrey-is-a-great-daughter-and-huma


How can there be people who bitch about such things with a straight face in our society?

How are people raising their kids?

:wtf:

[Skidmore]

1. No child should be given a car--especially a luxury car.

I'm of the old school where children need to earn their first car--literally earn it, and it doesn't have to be top line or new. Cars, iPods, designer clothes and shoes, electronic gadgets, and bling. It used to be that status products were items that adults strove to earn and children certainly were not given as rights of passage.

[malaise]

6. I disagree with you

Nothing wrong with giving them an old car or second hand car with a 1300 engine. Giving them anything with a bigger engine is asking them to go kill themselves. Few have the necessary judgement to drive a luxury car. Many parents give kids cars so that they no longer have to drive them all over the place or because they're heading to college.

[EOTE]

32. 1300 engine?

Are you referring to CCs? If so, there are very few cars sold today with engines so small. The only car I can think of with an engine that small (aside from some hybrid engines which are supplemented by electric engines as well) is the now defunct Geo Metro/Suzuki swift. The 4 cylinder version was a 1.3 liter Suzuki derived unit and the 3 cylinder was basically the same engine with one cylinder removed. Oddly, the 4 got almost the exact same fuel economy as the 3 cylinder did. I drive a fairly tiny VW GTi, my engine is certainly on the smaller end of engines available at 1.8 liters (and turbocharged at that), but my first two cars were V8s, and I didn't get a single ticket until I was 24.

One thing that's important to remember is that power can be used to avoid accidents just as much as it can be used to cause them. Having a good amount of torque on hand can be a real life saver when you need to get out of the way quickly.

[muriel_volestrangler]

40. Meanwhile, in the real world ...

1.3 litre engines are normal.

Ford Escort (1980-1990): 1.1 to 1.6 litre petrol engines

Honda Civic: 1343 cc engine

Toyota Corolla: 1.3 -1.8 litre engine

These are not the smallest cars around. The Toyota Yaris has a 1.0 litre engine.

[Matsubara]

70. My Mazda Scrum microvan has a .55 liter engine.

The top displacement for a "kei" microcar-class in in Japan is .66 liters. Kei-class account for 40% of all cars sold in Japan.

My van is a 1990 and has adequate pep, and I can tell you that the newer models are better than adequate.

And since there are very few huge SUVs here, I can actually see where I'm going!

[malaise]

57. Yep CCs

VW bug, Mini, Toyota Tercel, plus those you mentioned.

You're clearly a different young driver.:D

Sp.

[EOTE]

63. Oh, I was thinking of the U.S. market.

Here, I believe there are no engines (other than those found in hybrids) 1300 CCs or less. The VW bug in the U.S. has a 2.0 liter four (now I believe it's been replaced by a 2.5 liter 5 cylinder), a 1.9 liter turbo diesel, or a turbocharged 1.8 liter four. The Mini here is powered by a 1.6 liter unit, and my dad had a Tercel which had a carbureted 1.5 liter, I believe the Tercel was replaced by the Echo and now the Yaris (also a 1.5 liter engine).

I really do appreciate how outside of the U.S., a far greater priority is put on making fuel efficient vehicles, but I'd still be frightened driving such vehicles in certain situations. If it was just for city use, torque isn't very important at all and I wouldn't have a problem. However, at least once a month I find myself in a situation where I'm very thankful that I don't have to wait for my engine to spool up to 6 grand before I get any appreciable acceleration. Because I care about economy as much as performance, I decided my current car was going to be light. At 2600 lbs (light by U.S. standards anyway), my GTi has plenty enough room for my 6'5" frame, yet still outperforms my much heavier V8 powered vehicles I've owned in the past.

[malaise]

91. I had a Tercel for a decade

What a lovely little car - all of 1296CCs. We have increasing problems with the SUVs, but most people here opt for the Corolla or Civic.

[enlightenment]

64. I loved my 3 cylinder Sprint!!

It became the Metro the year after I bought mine. Drove it for 12 years. Loved that car, even if I had to choose between moving and having the air conditioner running!

[EOTE]

65. I heard they were good little workers....

An awful lot of them simply refused to stop working and are still on the roads today. It is odd to think of how much work car manufacturers are going through to make 50+ mpg cars. It seems to me that Suzuki had the right idea: keep the weight around a ton and give it a tiny engine. Voila! Fuel economy very comparable with the Prius and less than half the cost. Of course, even in the past ten years, vehicles have gotten a lot heavier simply because of all the newer safety requirements for cars nowaday. Dual airbags are now a requirement, as are a number of other heavy things. The new GTis weigh about 3300lbs. My GTi (MKIV) weighs about 2600lbs. The first generation (in the U.S.) GTis weigh about 1600 lbs. Shows you how much things can change in a bit more than 20 years.

[enlightenment]

100. It was amazing, considering.

The first year I had it, I took a round the state tour of Colorado (with a friend who had never been there). We traveled south, west, north, east - over three different mountain ranges. At the end of the trip, I worked out the mileage - 74 mpg. Seventy-four miles to the gallon.

Virtually no emissions; used to drive the smog-testers nuts.

Could it go fast up hills? No. Was it the most comfortable car? No. But it was the most reliable car I've ever owned; it sat four; it had enough room for groceries, luggage, and sundries . . . and it had heart. I think I'd have it still, but I gave it to my teenaged son, who left it running while he ran into a shop. Surprise, it was gone when he came out and the joyriders ran it into the ground. RIP, little car.

[KatyaR]

8. Ladies and gentlemen, the next Paris Hilton.

They get a luxury car because it reflects on their parents. What would people think if those parents allowed their children to drive an OLD car? Why, the HORROR!

In the suburb where I used to live, it was common for 16yos to get brand new high-end vehicles. Half the time they wrecked the damn things within 6 months, and they'd get another one. It was disgusting.

[annarbor]

88. My folks...

Gave me a "Deuce and a Quarter" (Electra 225 for you younguns')
I was so pround of my "boat" and it was over 10 year's old when my folks gave it to me. It was build like a tank and all of my school friends were safe when we drove around in it.

My 13 year-old may inherit my 98 Volvo...but it will be only because it too is built like a tank and he'll be as safe then as he is now. in it

What child needs a Lexus?

Ann Arbor

[KatyaR]

90. You may have seen the video of the twin 16yos rescheduled from

a Mercedes that was stucking in flooding in OKC yesterday (I think it was on CNN). I watched the news tonight, and those girls weren't even out of the rain before they were begging their dad for another Mercedes--not another "car," but a Mercedes. The reporter even noted it.

Dad had said they'd be walking the rest of the summer, but I bet you 10 to 1 they have another Mercedes by the end of the week.

[dysfunctional press]

9. the MINIMUMUM age for a driver's liscenses should be 18...

OR upon high school graduation.

[Matsubara]

12. The minimum age here in Japan is 20.

And even then you have to spend a LOT of time in classroom and road training before getting a license. The lessons are pricey, and the test is pretty hard - most fail the first time.

I personally don't think most 16-year-olds have good enough development of their judgment center of the brain to take the wheel.

The proof of that is splattered on US highways on an almost daily basis. I certainly saw it with my friends in school, most of whom had at least one accident between 16 and 20, and most never had another after that...


Even the "first lady" killed a boy as a teenage driver...

[gatorboy]

20. It's all that drifting, I tell ya!

[Matsubara]

35. That's some American movie right?

Maybe there are some people who do that, but the more common thing is the bosozoku, who ride around late at night in cars and on bikes tricked out to make as much noise as possible. Never seen a car "drift" here.

[gatorboy]

41. I saw some Japanese show that was promoting it not long ago.

They had knives attached to the front of the cars and then had the drivers drift into objects (watermelons, etc.) to see who could get the closest slice.

Is it true that tipping isn't that common in Japan?

I'm preparing for that dream trip to Tokyo I'll probably never get to take.

[Matsubara]

42. No such thing as tipping here. They will refuse tips.

Hope you make it over here someday. Tokyo is probably very different from where I live. This is a much smaller city.

[gatorboy]

48. Yes, someone once told me that they left a tip at some restaurant.

And one of the workers chased them down, thinking they forgot their money. :rofl:

Oh, I'm sure I'd enjoy your city just as much. I've always dreamed of visiting Japan, regardless of the location.

[sakabatou]

55. Db competitions?

They hold those here too... Unless it's something different.

[Matsubara]

62. Is that what they're called? All I know is they're really noisy.

Thankfully they don't stay in the neighborhood long, just drive by.

And they're still not as maddening as US "boom cars".

[sakabatou]

78. decible competitions

It's were they see who has the loudest set of audio for their car.

[Matsubara]

101. I was thinking more about muffler-less engine noise and musical horns.

That's the typical racket we hear from bosozoku here all the time.

"Boom cars" are a lot less common here than in the states, but in Tokyo they have a lot more of the trashy fads imported from the west like grafitti, etc. so it wouldn't surprise me if "boom cars" are catching on there.

[sakabatou]

104. Oh...

So whoever has the most annoying car wins?

[Matsubara]

105. Well, I'm no expert, I've only seen them from afar, but according to the wife...

...the "yankee" and "bosozoku" (speed tribe) subcultures (which have recently been getting displaced by kids mimicking the US hip-hop subculture) are mostly a sort of pose and a way for less-advantaged kids to rebel and form some solidarity. She claims most of them raise hell a while and then go on to be upstanding citizens.

The bosozoku groups are a motley crew - there's several with souped-up cars, then some with crappier cars, then there are some riding on crappy little scooters with flags on them (often 2 on one scooter)

In a way I can kinda see why teens would get into it if they weren't big into studying - Japan seemsto be a kinda boring country for a teenager.

A good movie that kind of touches on bosozoku and yankee culture (as well as lolicon) is Shimotsuma Monogatari ("Kamikaze Girls" in the US)

It's also very funny.

[otherlander]

71. But Japan has better public transportation, right?

[Matsubara]

76. Yes, but there are areas not well-served, especially in the boonies.

American high schools are usually situated so that every student in the attendance area should at least be within bicycle distance...

[dysfunctional press]

80. not necessarily at all.

here in chicago, there's FANTASTIC public transportation.

[Clark2008]

24. My husband sells car insurance and says that idea isn't far from

coming true.

There are already tons of restrictions on drivers under the age of 18, anyway. I would say that, by the time, my 8-year-old son is old enough to consider it, the driving age WILL be up to 18.

And, I really don't have a problem with that.

[slampoet]

27. It is NOT the age that matters it is school funded Driver's training that matters. Here in

Rhode Island students have to pay for Driver's Training so most people wait until they are 18 and get their license WITHOUT ANY DRIVERS TRAINING AT ALL!

As a result we have the Worst drivers of any area in the USA except for Boston (same system) and Miami.

If you think a 16 year old fresh from Driver's Training class is scary? try a 27 year old driving for the first time in their life. THAT is really scary.


You have it backwards. In michigan they have a system where Driver's Training is free to all student in the summer and the class is worth credits to help them graduate high school.

It doesn't work the other way around.

[dysfunctional press]

69. i didn't say that there shouldn't be driver's ed- there should be and it should be required-

no matter WHAT age a license is obtained at.

[slampoet]

93. OK sure, but there are policies you aren't aware of in many states that say if you're 18

you don't need to take Driver's ED.

Sometimes this is just policy but a lot of the time it is a legal precedent.

Also a bad driver is a bad driver in their first year no matter what year that happens of their life.

pushing that date back simply gives that dangerous year to society after that person has gotten a sense of entitlement (or after they have had kids?????).

[dysfunctional press]

103. well then why not make the driving age 12, and get that first year over with early...?

it's called maturity- and even though most 18 year-olds don't have near as much as they think they do- they most still have a heck of a lot more than the average 16 year-old- and maturity is the thing that hopefully tempers the time spent getting the much-needed driving experience.



you'll see...someday.

[ComerPerro]

58. Oh, please. I know 16 year olds who are better and safer drivers than some 40 year olds I've seen

[dysfunctional press]

68. not on average.

and that's what counts.

like another reply said- the day IS coming.

[Dragonbreathp9d]

61. thats just a great idea! You know, so they cant work, or go to after school activities

or see their friends without having mom and dad make a special trip. No football practice, play rehersal, dance recital, for these kids. But youre right, they should get it AFTER high school.

[dysfunctional press]

67. i guess kids don't have bicycles anymore...?

:shrug:

that's how i and most of my friends got around(just fine, thank-you) to/from school, work, friends, b-ball...

[Dragonbreathp9d]

73. I had a bike at that age, but not a death-wish

there would be no way I could safely make it anywhere outside of my neighborhood. Most of my town has road construction and crazy traffic as well as large, busy roads, I know if I had a kid I wouldnt let them ride their bike from where I live anywhere in town. Just too dangerous (and I doubt I live in the only area in the country like that). Not to mention I live 15 minutes by car from the high school I went to, factor in trying to cross traffic and you end up with a couple hour bike ride at least

[dysfunctional press]

79. "road construction and crazy traffic..."

sounds to me like a very bad place for inexperienced drivers-

15 minutes by car does NOT translate into "a couple hour bike ride at least"- unless someone is developmentally disabled- in which case they'd be riding the short bus anyway.

[Skidmore]

84. Hey, that's what parents are for--to make certain they get to all those

places and get home safely. I did it, and held down a job and went to school.

[Scout]

85. i hope you don't have kids...

yes, kids MUST have a car, because they can't take the city bus to their job after school, they can't walk or ride their bike to visit their friends, they can't possibly have their parents carpool with other team parents or ride their bikes or use public transportation to get home from sports practice... :eyes:

heaven forbid mom and dad should ever have to "make a special trip" to do something for/with their precious spawn :nopity:


please get a grip on reality

[Zookeeper]

72. Thank you! I agree. n/t

[Coventina]

17. Amen. You want a car? Go earn some money & buy one.

It's part of becoming an adult. Things don't grow on trees.

On edit: Ok, some things grow on trees, but cars don't.
:-)

[BlooInBloo]

22. Commercial: "kid: Dad, I think I need a cell phone. father: Son, I think you need a job.

[madokie]

74. we gave both of our sons their first cars, nowhere near new but good vehicles nevertheless

and I won't say it was a good or bad idea either. At the time I felt down deep it was the wrong thing to do but as it turned out it was a good thing for them as it was for us. I'm from the old school you speak of, bought my first vehicle, a cushman scooter for 8 bucks and traded it a couple years later for my first car '41 chevy coup. by the time I was old enough to get my drivers license I was in my second auto, '48 ford, a hell of a car at the time. In 'hell of a' I mean I didn't have to work on it all the time like I did my first one.

[proud2BlibKansan]

97. I went to high school with kids from some of the wealthiest families in my community

It seemed like the more money, the less likely they were to buy the kid a brand new car at 16. The wealthiest girl I knew drove a VW bug that she had saved her own money to buy. Yes, she had a job. Her parents had told her if she wanted a car she needed to buy it herself.

I applaud teaching kids the value of working for something they want.

[Selatius]

2. As Michael Moore said in Sicko, we live in a ME society instead of a WE society.

We are very individualistic. We are very materialistic. We worship wealth on television. The American Dream is now the idea in the minds of many of accumulating as much capital as one can possibly do before death. The man with the most at the end wins.

It's all bullshit. You've got the bottom 90 percent who own virtually nothing to their name outside their house and car. You've got 1 percent at the top controlling upwards of 40 percent of the nation's wealth, at least a guaranteed 5 trillion dollars and maybe more with interest on top of that to idiot inheritors and spoiled children.

You've got to be asleep to believe in the American Dream. It's just a lie, an opiate to dull the pain of knowing the game is stacked against you. Sure, you might win a pot now and then, but the house still wins in the end for the vast majority of poor souls in this country, many of whom are honest working people of modest means who vote for rich fuckers who don't give a damn about them.

[Johonny]

36. From my experience in China

I'd say Americans aren't the only ones with mentality.

[Mike Daniels]

39. Lots of societies/countries are "me" based.....

but for some reason only America gets labeled as such.

[ClintonTyree]

3. I happened to watch one of those, "Super Sweet Sixteen" shows....

once. I was appalled. Parents spending in excess of $100,000 for a stinking BIRTHDAY PARTY? :wtf: All RepubliCONS, I'm sure. These are the "values" they want their children to have. :eyes: That spoiled little brat should have gotten an airline ticket to Darfur for her birthday. A generation of Paris Hiltons in training awaits us. :banghead:

[Berry Cool]

5. That show is disgusting.

I saw the opening of one once. It was about identical twins planning their party. From the moment I saw them being very selective about whom they were going to invite, and making it very easy for the kids at their school to tell who had been invited and who had not, I didn't want to see any more. It wasn't just the outrageous wealth, it was the way they used it--as a way to tell the other kids they knew which ones amongst them were considered "cool" enough to invite and which ones were not. There was almost a delight in allowing the uninvited ones to know exactly WHY they were not considered good enough to have been invited to the party of these two spoiled brats.

[Initech]

86. Worst show on television.

I caught five minutes of a show once... and felt incredibly dirty afterward. In the span of five minutes, Spoiled Brat #1 is first seen at a LEXUS dealer picking out a $65,000 car. :wtf: :banghead:

Spoiled Brat #1 later finds out that Spoiled Brat #2 is having a Sweet 16 party a few weeks after hers. So Spoiled Brat #1 is seen interviewing Spoiled Brat #2 about her party, so Spoiled Brat #1 can plan an even better party. :eyes:

Think Paris Hilton is bad? We haven't even seen the worst of it yet.

[Nevernose]

102. My ten year old was offended.

(She's only a little older now)

We watched two episodes -- an entire hour -- back to back, and I had a ten-year old, a fifth-grader, saying things like:

"Why is she so proud? It's not like she did anything to earn it."

"I don't think it's fair that she gets stuff just because she's rich. I mean, okay, she should get nicer stuff because she's lucky, but two cars? One for sportiness and one to hold all her friends in?"

"What's wrong with her parents? Don't they care about their own daughter?"

Jesus f*ing Christ-on-a-cross. This is what offends me about Republican "values voters." They assume that because Sean Hannity told them we have no values, we don't. Of registered voters, of either party, I don't know anyone who doesn't believe in "A hard day's work for a hard day's pay." Even most of the non-registered voters agree with that.

We lose elections because the lower-income brackets have been suckered. Either suckered into believing that minorities are stealing from them, or suckered that they, too, could EASILY be members of the high-income bracket if they just voted Republican (or, as polls demonstrate, that they actually ARE members of a high-income bracket).

[Brewman_Jax]

4. My brother was on one of those shows

he and a few members of the Renaissance Festive cast were hired for one that was on one of the MTV Sweet 16 shows. The excess was even excessive. The birthday girl did get a Lexus SUV.

It's enough to make you shake your head. :(

[China_cat]

7. Geez...whatever happened to getting

your first wristwatch for graduation?

[JHB]

50. You got a whole wristwatch?!? Why you spoiled blankety-blank! I only got the strap!

:evilgrin: Just kidding.

But I do agree with a lot of people above: What on Earth are her parents thinking just giving her a car that cost more than (may be several times more than? I don't exactly price Lexi) the median national family income?

[Matsubara]

10. Just for the record, the point of this post is NOT about materialism.

The problem is this young girl, who has never worked a day in her life, and her absurdly inflated sense of entitlement.

That someone could be so spoiled and insulated from reality that she would COMPLAIN about being given a Lexus when there is so much misery in the world and in this country, how about a little gratitude?


But no, cretinous republicans think the only people with an unjustified sense of entitlement are "welfare moms with 10 kids" :eyes:, which of course they assume are all black.

Didn't they ever learn about humility and counting one's blessings from their parents?

Of course they didn't, they didn't learn a damn thing about anything that matters.


Mitsubishi? :eyes:

[Bobbieo]

11. Bottom Line - WEeare getting more like Mexico every day.

Three classes of citizens: The very, very rich - the merchant or middle class - and the poor. The traditional blue collar working man
has become a member of the poor class.

[EnviroBat]

13. Yeah, if we really want to help fend off the impending gas crisis.

Raise the driving limit age to 19~20, to get these little assholes off the fucking streets. How many useless trips are 16 y.o. kids making to the mall, or to friends houses? I didn't have my first car until I graduated high-school, and I paid for it myself. Prior to that, I never had any problems taking a bus, bicycle, or moped to get where I had to go. Except for the prom. I rented a limo, or borrowed the folks car for a special occasion. The fucking roads are congested enough without having these little asshats driving around like they own them. Oh, and don't give me that, "It's convenient for the parents..." crap either. Maybe these precious parents should put those dumpsters with wheels to good use, and cart their fucking kids around. Use the SUV for the excuse you bought it for in the first place, a bus, for your kids and their friends! Fucking kids are a menace in traffic!

[Smooth Operator]

14. My wife loves those shows

for the life of me I don't know why.She changes the channel as soon as I voice my disapproval of the behavior of the kids on the show. I didn't get my first car until I was 23. For the first 6 months of my new job I walked to work. My kids all had beaters for their first cars and paid for them themselves. These parents think they're teaching their kids something about ownership/responsibilty but that's not the case. Just another generation of spoiled brats with an inflated sense of self.

[Midlodemocrat]

43. Well, speaking for myself.

The convenience for me is huge. I work full time from home and having my teenager available to drive the little one around is major for me.

She can't drive my husband's car because it's a company car and she doesn't like to drive my van, so she drives the car we got for the kids to use. Very good on gas and since she has to pay for her own gas, she's pretty careful about carpooling and excessive driving.

JMHO, YMMV.

[BlooInBloo]

15. The same parents that buy a swimming pool and let the kids scream all day...

... I.e., NOT parents.

[DainBramaged]

16. People raise their kids the best they know how, oh by the way, I've been there

You don't have to be a bad parent to have an angry kid, or a kid who feels peer pressure to fit in, or a kid who is poor who has to go to a school where the area is one of the wealthiest in the US. You don't have to be a bad parent to realize the difference in growing up with war in the back of your mind, or a draft over the horizon, or a sick parent who can't spend the time with them they want.

You don't have to be a bad parent to know that it doesn't last a lifetime when their paranoia turns to outrage over the silliest thing. You don't have to be a bad parent when their hormones overwhelm them.

Most people do the best they can. I know I did. And I made sure my kid was distracted from the bullshit surrounding us whenever I could afford it. And until you have a teenage child, you can't walk in my shoes.

Oh and PS

EVERY older generation says the same thing about the younger generation. I'm still outraged.

[AlCzervik]

18. my daughter watches that show and this is what i hear "What a brat!"

"Mom, did you hear what she said to her mother??!!" It's a good lesson in how not to behave and a good lesson in bad parenting. Kids want time with their parents imo not stuff, not to say they don't like material things but they do not replace time spent and imo thats what these parents do--i don't spend with you so here is some money or a car or a really big party.

[Midlodemocrat]

25. Same here. "What a brat"

If one of mine ever talked to me that way there would be extreme amounts of hell to pay.

[Zookeeper]

75. My daughter watches and laughs at how greedy and horrible...

those kids are. Sweet Sixteen also serves as a good illustration of tacky behavior.

[seemunkee]

92. So does mine

I still don't like her watching it. Too much time wasted in front of the tellie.

[lonestarnot]

19. They're not. They're not raising their kids.

[KansDem]

21. Oh, I don't know...maybe a society where a TV commentator can call a woman a "bitch"

...might have something to do with the zeitgeist that produces 16-year-olds like Audrey.

[Midlodemocrat]

26. I think he was just repeating what Audrey said.

and making a point about what a brat she is.

[KansDem]

28. It was done for effect...

Specifically, the "cheap laugh," which has been the crux of American entertainment for the past several decades. True, he was just repeating what the kid said, but pointing out what a "brat" she is could have been done with a touch of class and finesse, sorely lacking in our times. It's the zeitgeist that allows this to happen on American airwaves and in the US Congress (Dick "Go F**k Yourself" Cheney is a prime example of this). I'm just saying that we shouldn't be too surprised when 16-year-olds like Audrey turn up from time to time.

[Midlodemocrat]

30. I have a soon to be 17yo and a 15yo, and there is NO WAY

either one of mine would ever behave like that without getting their head handed to them.

It starts when they are babies. Treat them with respect and kindness and they will respond the same way.

My kids were horrified by that clip, especially how she was screaming at her mother.

[KansDem]

33. I have a 15yo and a 9yo...

Our financial situation prevents us from lavishing them with gifts such as Audrey got. We did get our daughter a cell phone (the 15yo), mainly at her mother's persistence. Well, her grades dropped and voilà...no more cell phone. You're right about treating them with "respect and kindness;" it's one of the toughest jobs I've had and I'm not even through yet!

[Midlodemocrat]

37. I'll be honest with you, even if my financial situation permitted

a gift like Audrey got, I wouldn't do it.

If you get them a brand new luxury SUV at 16, what do they have to look forward to? What do they have to work towards?

There are some things that should be reserved for adulthood, IMHO. I think my daughter isn't going to suffer because she wasn't awarded a Lexus SUV when she turned 16. We did get her a used Camry. She shuttles her brother and sister around a ton for me, and since she can't drive her dad's car (it's a company car and only he and I can drive it), her having transportation prevents me from being without.

[AlCzervik]

38. if i had the money i'd buy my daughter the safest used car i could find for her

like a Volvo wagon for her first car. I got my first car when i just turned 18 and it looked like shit after the first year of me owning it, tons of dings and scraped fenders from my inexperience as a driver. Also i totally agree with what do they have to look forward to, parents set the expectation that high for kids that young they may have a pretty miserable life if the money money runs out and they don't have the type of job that keeps them in the lifestyle they were accustomed to.

[IndyOp]

23. Great Youtube Video: Teenage affluenza is spreading fast.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KFZz6ICzpjI

[nonconformist]

60. Great vid! That should be shown in every middle/high school in America.

I personally know of several teens that NEED to see that.

[flygal]

94. Thank you for posting that

I'm going to have my niece view it. The last shot of the text messaging might really hit home with her. She's been focusing too much on her social scene and I keep trying to show her there's a bigger world out there.

[porphyrian]

29. That's a peek at who votes republicant in Florida. - n/t

[JacquesMolay]

31. I can't understand what the hell the girl is saying ...

.... is she bitching about her mother upstaging her at the party? Or is she pissed off because she didn't like the car model?

[philosophie_en_rose]

34. I think's she's mad that her mom didn't give the car to her at the party.

So she's deprived of having the car presented to her in front of everyone at the party. :eyes:

The thing I hate about this show is how unkind the brats are towards their schoolmates and parents.

A bunch of verucas.

[LisaL]

95. Well, whose fault is that? Even if you are rich, you don't have to

spoil your kids to the point that they are rude and obnoxious.

[philosophie_en_rose]

96. Even if you're parents give you things, you can choose not to be spoiled and obnoxious.

The parents are clearly enablers, but the kids don't deserve a free pass.

I know many people that have grown up with advantages without becoming cruel to others.

And there are people without money who raise ungrateful children.

[Truthiness Inspector]

54. I think it's both...I mean, her life was RUINED!

It was hard to understand what she was saying, but she wanted the car at the party, and also said something like, "It's not even the car I wanted!"

If I were her parent, all her luxury items would be donated, her allowance would be cut off, and she'd have to get a part-time job after a display like that.

[JacquesMolay]

66. My first car was a Pinto ....

... if I had a kid that threw a fit like that, I'd search around for the last existing one to give to her.

[nealmhughes]

44. Nothing like watching "My Super Sweet Sixteen" to get one's blood boiling, conjuring up mental

imagary of Mme. DeFarge knitting the "Next!" list for the guillotine.

I suppose my sarcastic "Yeah, and I want a Mercedes and a pony" is no longer necessarily a point of frivolity.

As for teen drivers being unleashed upon the streets of college towns: one takes one life into Fortuna's hands when the first semester begins and all the freshmen are coming into town. Especially the ones from Whispering Pretense upon the Bullshit -- a Luxury Golf and Tennis Gated Community.

Trying to teach kids the rudiments such as "Just because you CAN go right on red doesn't mean you HAVE to do it, especially when people are in the crosswalk" seems to be best done by having a large pocket full of small stones or else rotten vegetables to hurl at the malfactors.

Equally distressing is the inablility of these youth to learn to park in town. I suggest that a few valve stems be loosened upon their tires to let them learn the lesson that it is not OK to park on someone's lawn merely because you do not know how to park on the street, and that it is not OK to park on the sidewalk. . .

Evil graduate student: "Why do you think it is OK to park on my lawn, would you like it if I went and did it on your parent's lawn?" Clueless student: "Huh? What about my parents?"

[AZBlue]

46. Oh, I can't even watch that show any more.

One more episode and the TV was going out the window.

[aikoaiko]

45. That clip makes me miss Paris so much more.

Free Paris.

[JHB]

81. Aiiieeee! Turn it off! Turn off that image!

It's the Hypno-Hilton!

[guitar man]

47. geez, what a brat!

I literally shoveled shit for my first car. I was working at a restaraunt as a dishwasher/busboy when an opportunity came along to make twice the money cleaning out livestock trailers, the big semi trailers they hauled cows and pigs to market in. Hard, hot and incredibly nasty and smelly work cleaning those things out. But I needed the money for my first car and the restaraunt job wasn't cutting it.

It was a '68 Rambler American, 6cyl and a "3 on the tree". It was in beautiful condition except, it needed a clutch, so I rolled my ass underneath, broke out some wrenches and got hot and greasy busting some knuckles to replace the clutch. THEN I had my first car.

Dad was making good money and could have paid cash for a new Trans-AM or Z-28 for me, but that's not the way things were done in my family. It was a great lesson and I'm glad I learned it. :)

[BlooInBloo]

49. Wow - I didn't realize people actually watched the show. Now I see where DU gets its Paris-love.

[Rob H.]

51. I got my first car when I was 19

I was a poor college student, so my parents bought it for me--they'd given my older brother their old car when they bought a new one--but I had to pay for insurance, gas, and upkeep. I was just so happy to have a car that ran (and it had 60,000+ miles on it when I got it) and got great gas mileage that they could've had it painted hot pink with puke-green flames and I still would've driven it.

The body style was just like this one, but it was a midnight blue '82 with tan interior and silver-painted wheels. It had a whopping 72 horsepower, but it was so light that it had great acceleration in spite of that and was a flat-out blast to drive. I loved that little car!

[Enrique]

52. this girl is not a person in our society

she's a character in a reality show.

[RedStateShame]

53. Put 30 years on that kid, and she's screaming, "Keep the Bush tax cuts permanent!"

[Javaman]

56. It's stories like this that make me glad oil is running out. nt

[hiphopnation]

59. the gilded age

it's like a staring at a car crash - i want to look away, my conscious tells me i should look away, but lo, i cannot.

[depakid]

77. From MTV- the music channel that doesn't play music!

LOL.

The bratty kids and prolonged adolescence channel.

[SoCalDem]

82. "Karen, you ungrateful bitch" is what we jokingly called my friend

Karen had a gorgeous yellow Lincoln that she dearly loved. her husband drove a pick up. One day her husband took the Lincoln because it needed brakes, so he dropped it off at the dealership and we picked Karen up for lunch.


Later in the day..

She and Dave were going out for dinner that night with some friends..
The friends were at the house and all were waiting for dave to get home.. They waited and they waited and they waited (this was pre-cell phones)

finally..dave arrives home and rushes Karen outside.. In the driveway is a brand new navy blue/camel colored leather interior. Mercedes convertible 560 SL..

Dave's first words, "Check out your new car, baby"

Karen's first words..

"WHAT THE HELL DID YOU DO WITH MY LINCOLN..YOU BETTER NOT HAVE TRADED IT IN ON THIS...WE'RE LATE FOR OUR RESERVATION..AND HOW WILL WE FIT FOUR GROWNUPS IN THAT ??

He had not sold the Lincoln..It just needed more time in the shop, and while he was waiting to talk to the service manager, he wandered around the lot of the next-door mercedes dealership...he thought she's like a spiffy little car, so he bought it for her.

After that we always called her "KYUB"..:)

When the Lincoln came home from the shop, she rarely drove the mercedes, and their son Tommy drove it the most..

[Initech]

83. No teenagers should be given $70,000 luxury cars.

That's a crime.

[otherlander]

87. That's...

like...
More than four years of college. 0_0

[ecstatic]

89. What gets me is when they get these cars 1 or 2 years before even getting license

By the time they get their license, they won't want their *outdated* Range Rover anymore :eyes: Generally I can't stomach the show either. They're so lucky :cry:

[SoCalDem]

99. They will pay later..

My youngest always ran with a "rich" crowd...and those "kids" were the ones who were the most screwed up..In fact one kid just got out of JAIL for too many DUIs..(Luckily he never hurt anyone else in his car crashes)..

Those were the kids with the drug habits, out-of-wedlock babies, early marriages & divorces..

One of his friends asked my son how he managed to be friends with everyone, and why he seemd to have his head screwed on straight.. My son said.. "My parents say NO to me a lot":)

[erpowers]

98. Publicity Stunt

The same thing did happen about a year ago. I think it was last year that a girl was supposedly given a car and began to complain about the color. I am not sure if people just began to lie after the family had been embarrassed, but it was later said that the whole thing was a publicity stunt for Dominoes Pizza.

The same thing could be happening in this case. It is possible that the people in the video are just looking for attention. Remember the bride gone made video that showed up on you tube a short time ago. That was just a publicity stunt to attempt to get the females in the video acting jobs. So, maybe the same things in happening in the video you posted.