Under the heading of “Yet Another Thing That Shouldn’t Be A Thing”, we now have adult coloring books. As the title to this post suggests, I’m slightly more at ease referring to them as coloring books for adults, but between you and I, the concept of a grown man or woman purchasing one, whatever we call them, is quite horrifying. I believe this is another example of a culture that has decided not to mature. Worse yet, this lack of maturity is condoned, even celebrated. We have all but bubble wrapped an entire generation, telling them that they are awesome and can do no wrong. Hang out with any parent and their toddler, and it won’t take but a New York second before hearing “Good job, Barclay”, or if a girl, “AlexaSiri”. If the aforementioned youngster ran the 40 in less than 5 seconds or explained a Venn diagram, I get it. But I’m fairly confident that a kid should not be lauded for putting down a cat “leaving” they plucked from a sandbox. This alarming progression started with participation trophies and no scorekeeping in sports. Now we have adults taking time off from whatever it is they do for a living to attend conventions dressed as comic book characters. Halloween costumes are cute if you are nine, and many of us enjoy an occasional costume party. But when a bearded 45 year old man dresses like a “My Little Pony” and isn’t embarrassed or Baker acted, we’ve become hopelessly untethered from reality. What do you think an elderly combat veteran picking up his dress blues at the dry cleaners for a platoon reunion would say to a large thirty-something dude dropping off his unicorn outfit, asking if the excessive glitter could be removed? Imagine, if you will, telling your boss that you’ll be unable to make it in today because you “can’t even”. Or demanding that your employer or professor protect you from hearing stuff that you, but precious few others find offensive?
In a way, this might not be a terrible trend. Maybe life is so easy for many of us that we’ve become soft. Instead of struggling to earn enough at the textile mill to feed our families, which, by the way, we had when we were in our early twenties, the greatest obstacle we face these days is the line for the latest super hero movie, or losing the charge to our AirPods halfway through our favorite podcast. And truthfully, I love the idea of adult kickball leagues. Perhaps a brief excursion into the whimsically childlike isn’t all bad, but it should be seldom and short lived. After all, societies aren’t created and wars won by those that throw temper tantrums when asked to clean their rooms. Figuratively speaking, of course.
Are you a grownup?
(Click “Stand On Firmer Ground” for a deeper look into Coloring Books For Adults)
Stand On Firmer Ground