Sunday, January 1, 2017

But I Just Want to "Dab" and I do not know why!

Today on Facebook, I shared a pretty controversial topic - Dabbing!  You know that cute little dance we have seen ages 8 months to 90 years old doing?  It is hip, it is cool, I mean Carolina Panthers star quarterback Cam Newton unveiled it - so it has to be "cool".....RIGHT?

So my husband and I are the strict parents - the ones that months ago said I really do not think "dabbing" is a good idea.  Trey is obsessed with listening to talk shows - and had heard mention that dabbing was a drug reference.  Sigh!  It is just a dance!  Or so our 13 year old has spent at least 6 months trying to convince us.

Okay maybe it is just a dance, but the word "dabbing" in the Urban Dictionary (urban - because that is where all the hip words are) is defined as:

"To press a piece of cannabis extract known as Butane Hash Oil against a heated surface of an oil rig pipe and inhale the smoke. These extracts have up to 90% THC levels. It is the newest growing trend for cannabis connoisseurs and Colorado currently has the largest following to date.
Hey man, I got some dabs. Can I borrow your torch? 
He's dabbing some BHO."   by SlabsofDabs 
You Google the word "dabbing" and click on images - you will see first a few photos of people dancing - then you will see nothing better than some good ol' fashion drug paraphernalia .  


There has been some response to my post - "it is just a dance" "we want to look cool" my own teen daughter stomped her feet and said "but mom my friends are doing it" - okay whatever.  

I am a tad passionate about this - NOT necessarily "dabbing"  - I am sure the Macarena had a hidden message as well, but I am MORE passionate about.....People knowing the signs they are throwing!  

For a good portion of my adult life, I have been around, worked with, or avoided people that would straight up hurt you for throwing the wrong sign or dropping the wrong phrase.  In this world, you have to know what you are saying - not just what is "cool" at the moment.  

A few weeks ago a young man that I see regularly walked by with his pants sagging a bit (showing his undies) - I first laughed, I second started to yell "pull up your pants" and then I remember he probably does not know where "sagging pants" originated....again from the Urban Dictionary, but true - "sagging" means: 

"wearing ones pants around the hips so that they sag down and bunch up around the ankles. Originally, this was a prison thing that signified that you were another prisoner's property.  Punks were forced to wear their pants this way so it would be easier for their masters to pull their pants down and rape them. Somehow this became a 1990's fashion trend. I learned this from watching a TV special on prison life. The inmate who related the story was an elderly black gentleman who had been sentenced to life in prison and had been there for over fifty years. He marveled how such a mark of shame became a fashion statement.  by Spanky McSpunk 

Again "sagging" is another fad, fashion, or oh so cool  - or it could mean you are someones property. 

In case you are wondering - you will learn this term and meaning in Criminal Justice 101 - where you can also learn a lot about where many modern day trends begin.  

So parents, from one parent to another parent  - I am not begging you to make the "dabbing" stop. That would be impossible - and it will fade away much like Disco did, but I am asking to become aware of what your kids are learning and where they are learning.   

That new hand gesture they are throwing - ask them where they learned it, that new phrase they just quoted - Google it and find out what the "hip term" means......In this world, in this age - it could save your child's life.  

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