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So, Eric Theodore Cartman, please draw on your extensive knowledge of anthropology and enlighten us: what is the irrefutable rite of passage for the male of the human species? I do hope that at some point it involves no longer identifying with an obnoxious character on a puerile animated series that jumped the shark a long time ago.
I suppose it really does take the advent of a small, dependent human being to force many people to grow up. If this is indeed the case, it's a relief to me that they finally have done so, but still a wee bit alarming that such drastic measures were necessary.
I am, however, more concerned about the countless cases in which reproducing did not bring about maturation, as evidenced by all the reports of neglect and abuse that reach child-protective-services agencies in a given year. I seem to recall several particularly horrible instances in which children roasted alive in cars, froze to death, or starved while their parents got wasted/had sex/partied/played video games. And don't forget the drunken breastfeeding case mentioned on Broadsheet some time ago. I don't think mature parents breastfeed while in a drunken stupor, but perhaps you can correct me on that point.
