>>What is it with these people? Who calls a 15-year-old, criminal or not, “my grandbaby” and says, “He a baby ...”? It’s as if there is a conscious effort to prevent the next generation from achieving maturity.<<
It absolutely is. The women refer to their mates as “baby-boi”, the mates refer to their women as “momma”. The ‘men’ live at home well into adulthood, sponge off family and BigDaddyFedGov, refuse to work, refuse to financially support their illegitimate offspring, sleep till the afternoon, and party all night.
It’s arrested development, pure and simple, brought on and perpetuated by their very own culture.
It’s very strange to me. I have a 16-year-old son: he’s 6’2-1/2” and weighs 270. I don’t ever say, “He’s a baby.” I say, “You’re bigger than most adults, and so you’d better show even more maturity than someone smaller.” Even my 3-year-old will say, “I’m not a baby, I’m a brother! I use the toilet!”
On the general topic, my husband has been telling me about the man with whom he shares an office, and the other day he said this man was 36 years old. I said, “I’ve been thinking you were talking about a 24-year-old!” because the person just sounds so immature.