Bob's Perspective

[Alec Benson Leary]

Honestly, I feel bad for Bob. He may not have been the best influence on Chris, but unlike Barb, he actually tried to raise Chris properly

Bob did no such thing. He taught his son to lie, cheat the system, steal whenever it was convenient, treat the rest of the world like they were automatically enemies unless they went out of their way to placate him, and most importantly, Bob taught Chris to be an eternal victim and demand entitlement. Bob was a terrible parent; we may appreciate the fact that he didn't put up with Chris crying like a baby the way Barb does, but that's quite overshadowed by all the other deplorable behavior he taught Chris to think is okay.

Yes, Bob was a bit racist and homophobic, as were most elderly Southerners who grew up in the 1930's, and yes, he ultimately failed in raising Chris, but unlike Barb, he actually TRIED to make a difference, whereas Barb saw (and still sees) Chris as a glorified pet for the hoard. If Bob knew better, he probably would have given Chris the help he really needed.

He knew enough to set Chris up for SSDI. He knew enough to intimidate two school boards. He knew enough to muddy the exact nature of Chris's condition so that people whose job it is to do the best for others would get tired of the ensuing headache and just pass Chris along. For nearly thirty years, he put in a lot of effort to squeeze Chris through the cracks. As said above, effort that didn't need spending if he just sat down, swallowed his pride and listened for a bit.

Yeah, this. Bob wasn't a simpleton who couldn't comprehend the change in the times. He knew more than enough about the system to play it like a fiddle and take whatever he could from it. Bob and Barb were selfish, bellicose people who looked at everything and everyone with only one thought: "How can I make this thing serve my interests?" They then passed that attitude on to Chris, and it ruined any chance he had at happiness.

 

[GFYS]

Gonna have to agree that Bob was a terrible father to Chris, by any standard in the past century. Even before they had a diagnosis, it's said that they left Chris at home alone, or with a neighborhood girl to watch him, while they went out to drink for hours at a time. If Chris were neurotypical, they would have already potentially done some harm to his development, doing this. I'm pretty sure this first step already invalidates someone for any parenting awards.

By example, Bob taught Chris how to pass blame on to everyone else but him, and manipulate the system in his favor by hook or by crook. I don't know if Bob established or fed into Chris' paranoia - arguments could be made for either - but Bob has shown several instances where he bought into the harebrained Green County conspiracy, hackers stealing Chris' credit card info, and other such nonsense.

Now, here's my own weird twist on this... That all may not have been a terrible idea, on some level. It's debated just how stupid Chris really is, but it's clear he ain't Mensa materiel. It's not always a bad idea to teach handicapped children a few dirty tricks to survive in a rough world, like showing the runt of the litter how to kick a bully in the nuts. Is it ethical? Not by Hoyle. But such an underhanded tactic might save his ass, despite being at a constant disadvantage. Unfortunately, Chris didn't seem to learn how to use manipulation to improve his social standing. He just learned ways to sink into his pathetic routine, and fight to stay there, which I suspect was Barb's contribution to Christian Weston Chandler's constitution.

 

[BALLZ-BROKEN]

Barb is from roughly the same time as Bob, or at least the same time-frame that depicted mental healthcare in such a draconian manner. So why does Bob get the excuse of being behind the times, but Barb doesn't?

We like to assume Chris is racist because of Bob, but Barb also grew up before the civil rights movement. Chris could of learned his bigotry from her. She was Chris' more favored parent, after all. Chris sure as shit didn't want to learn gardening or stamp collecting from Bob, why would he choose his views on race relations from Bob as well?

The only reason we think he's a bigoted fuck was simply because he was an old white man from the south, which is a little shallow minded and (dare I steal a word from SJ pukes) ageist. He was a jazz aficionado, which seems kinda strange for someone who had alleged Klan ties.

 

[Marvin]

Barb is from roughly the same time as Bob, or at least the same time-frame that depicted mental healthcare in such a draconian manner. So why does Bob get the excuse of being behind the times, but Barb doesn't?

We like to assume Chris is racist because of Bob, but Barb also grew up before the civil rights movement. Chris could of learned his bigotry from her. She was Chris' more favored parent, after all. Chris sure as shit didn't want to learn gardening or stamp collecting from Bob, why would he choose his views on race relations from Bob as well?

The only reason we think he's a bigoted fuck was simply because he was an old white man from the south, which is a little shallow minded and (dare I steal a word from SJ pukes) ageist. He was a jazz aficionado, which seems kinda strange for someone who had alleged Klan ties.

Oh yeah, that's what I always thought. People seem to think the moment you cross the Potomac, it's banjos and moonshine.

I think that we don't have enough information on Bob to tell either way if Bob was racist. I was thinking about this topic recently because I was thinking about a family member's of mine's racism. Unless you spent a good amount of time around them, you wouldn't be able to tell they were racist. They had unpleasant racist attitudes that was a part of their thoughts and occasionally how they spoke in private. It was really unsettling, but in public you wouldn't notice a thing. Bob also could've been racist in the same sense as the racism that just permeates pop culture in general. So, y'know, tv sitcom stereotypes and things like that.

The person we'd need to ask to find out what Bob's attitudes on race were is Chris. And I doubt he could give us a straight enough answer. I bet Chris didn't pay attention and/or Bob didn't bother to talk to Chris because there's no point to having mature conversations with Chris (aside from the humor we derive from it ).

 

[acrylicpaint]

Honestly, I feel bad for Bob. He may not have been the best influence on Chris, but unlike Barb, he actually tried to raise Chris properly

Bob did no such thing. He taught his son to lie, cheat the system, steal whenever it was convenient, treat the rest of the world like they were automatically enemies unless they went out of their way to placate him, and most importantly, Bob taught Chris to be an eternal victim and demand entitlement. Bob was a terrible parent; we may appreciate the fact that he didn't put up with Chris crying like a baby the way Barb does, but that's quite overshadowed by all the other deplorable behavior he taught Chris to think is okay.

Yes, Bob was a bit racist and homophobic, as were most elderly Southerners who grew up in the 1930's, and yes, he ultimately failed in raising Chris, but unlike Barb, he actually TRIED to make a difference, whereas Barb saw (and still sees) Chris as a glorified pet for the hoard. If Bob knew better, he probably would have given Chris the help he really needed.

He knew enough to set Chris up for SSDI. He knew enough to intimidate two school boards. He knew enough to muddy the exact nature of Chris's condition so that people whose job it is to do the best for others would get tired of the ensuing headache and just pass Chris along. For nearly thirty years, he put in a lot of effort to squeeze Chris through the cracks. As said above, effort that didn't need spending if he just sat down, swallowed his pride and listened for a bit.

Yeah, this. Bob wasn't a simpleton who couldn't comprehend the change in the times. He knew more than enough about the system to play it like a fiddle and take whatever he could from it. Bob and Barb were selfish, bellicose people who looked at everything and everyone with only one thought: "How can I make this thing serve my interests?" They then passed that attitude on to Chris, and it ruined any chance he had at happiness.

Wow, now Bob 'n' Barb sound like Randroids.

 

[Uzumaki]

Oh yeah, that's what I always thought. People seem to think the moment you cross the Potomac, it's banjos and moonshine.

I think that we don't have enough information on Bob to tell either way if Bob was racist.

I don't think people see Bob as racist because he's from the south. I think it might have something to do with painting the Whitehouse black, threatening people with the KKK and burning crosses, etc. etc. He may not be what most Americans think of as racist in that he might not have killed anyone or thrown shit at them, but it's pretty clear he has racial prejudices.

 

[DrChristianTroy]

Oh yeah, that's what I always thought. People seem to think the moment you cross the Potomac, it's banjos and moonshine.

I think that we don't have enough information on Bob to tell either way if Bob was racist.

I don't think people see Bob as racist because he's from the south. I think it might have something to do with painting the Whitehouse black, threatening people with the KKK and burning crosses, etc. etc. He may not be what most Americans think of as racist in that he might not have killed anyone or thrown shit at them, but it's pretty clear he has racial prejudices.

Also, from either Bob or Barb I can't remember, "Get your black ass back in the gutter!" Something along those lines. That always really offended me. Admittedly probably more than it should.

 

[Marvin]

Oh yeah, that's what I always thought. People seem to think the moment you cross the Potomac, it's banjos and moonshine.

I think that we don't have enough information on Bob to tell either way if Bob was racist.

I don't think people see Bob as racist because he's from the south. I think it might have something to do with painting the Whitehouse black, threatening people with the KKK and burning crosses, etc. etc. He may not be what most Americans think of as racist in that he might not have killed anyone or thrown shit at them, but it's pretty clear he has racial prejudices.

No, really, at the very least, people frequently cite that he's from the south to accuse him of being racist. And yeah, the white house joke was pretty bad, but the KKK shit was really dumb and during a troll call he got. I don't take the KKK shit seriously at all because it was stupid shit he tried to do to scare the spergs who pestered their house at that time in the trolling.

And no, no one thinks you have to have killed someone to be racist. I just don't think we know enough about Bob to know whether or not he's racist. (racist in the sense that he's got much stronger prejudices against other races, like I said in my other post, there's lots of racism permeating pop culture, which is a different sort of racism than I think most people think of when they're talking about Bob)

 

[Bgheff]

Also, from either Bob or Barb I can't remember, "Get your black ass back in the gutter!" Something along those lines. That always really offended me. Admittedly probably more than it should.

That was [cwc]Barbara Chandler[/cwc]. prank call seems to be gone though.

 

[GFYS]

...the KKK shit was really dumb and during a troll call he got. I don't take the KKK shit seriously at all because it was stupid shit he tried to do to scare the spergs who pestered their house at that time in the trolling.

They way he said it, too, didn't sound like a directed threat so much as a general "in my day, people used to get burning crosses on their lawn for such behavior" warning. Which is a true statement. Burning crosses wasn't necessarily a racial thing. Folks burned crosses on the lawn of unwed mothers, criminals, political rivals, and other social outcasts or miscreants. It used to be a declaration of war. I've seen two small burning crosses, and several burning flags, all over a union dispute without any racial context at all.

 

[Julaay]

I'm going to go out on a limb and say Bob did the best he could. I could understand a little bit why he didn't want Chris to go to a "retard school". Back in the old days, mentally challenged kids would be locked in the basement or sent to an asylum. I do understand why he was so big on mainstreaming and if I came from an era where the mentally challenged were abused, locked up, or just forgotten about, I would have been the same way. Now, where Bob failed was actually trying to force his son to somewhat adjust to the outside world. There are so many out there worse off than Chris, and they live indepentley and are happy in their lives.

Also, I'm blaming Bob for the hoard too. Even if he couldn't get his fatass wife to pick up after herself, he could have had his grown son clean. If I were him and if Snorlax screamed about her trash being thrown away, I would have shown her the door. However, that is just me and I wouldn't tolerate it. My husband is a reformed hoarder, I helped cure him.

I think the tugboat was after seeing how Chris royally screwed up his time in college and cannot hold down a job, Bob saw that Chris wouldn't make it in the workforce. I don't even know if he can without some serious help.

Bob wasn't a good parent by any stretch of the imagination. However, I do believe he tried to the best of his ability. With the online crap, I think Bob missed a lot of what was going on, because well, older people normally don't know how to use computers. He might not even known how to turn one one and forget about policing his online activity. Although, when he found out about it, he should have just cut that internet down and left it down. Also, he should have changed the phone number after the calls.

 

[butt in trouble]

I've often wondered why Bob loved (or at least tolerated) Chris so much. Bob abandoned other Children of his who went on to be much more successful and normal than Chris.

 

[Molvanian]

I've often wondered why Bob loved (or at least tolerated) Chris so much. Bob abandoned other Children of his who went on to be much more successful and normal than Chris.

Maybe because he knew the other kids don't need a parent?

 

[GFYS]

I've often wondered why Bob loved (or at least tolerated) Chris so much. Bob abandoned other Children of his who went on to be much more successful and normal than Chris.

It doesn't seem like it was Bob's decision. I get the impression that his other children were the ones who decided to excise him from their lives. Chris is too dependent on his parents to ever leave, so that's all Bob had left to work with.

 

[CatParty]

I've often wondered why Bob loved (or at least tolerated) Chris so much. Bob abandoned other Children of his who went on to be much more successful and normal than Chris.

It doesn't seem like it was Bob's decision. I get the impression that his other children were the ones who decided to excise him from their lives. Chris is too dependent on his parents to ever leave, so that's all Bob had left to work with.

He had to. Chris wouldn't leave.

 

[Yawning Squirtle]

Bob did no such thing. He taught his son to lie, cheat the system, steal whenever it was convenient, treat the rest of the world like they were automatically enemies unless they went out of their way to placate him, and most importantly, Bob taught Chris to be an eternal victim and demand entitlement. Bob was a terrible parent; we may appreciate the fact that he didn't put up with Chris crying like a baby the way Barb does, but that's quite overshadowed by all the other deplorable behavior he taught Chris to think is okay.

This instantly reminded me of Chris' "wheeling and dealing". This was posted on another thread (can't remember which one, or who posted it, sorry). It's part of Jackie E-mails 15:

For your information... A) the recent 43.98 purchase was actually a spot of Wheeling and Dealing I did; I actually spent less to make a profit. Toys 'R' Us had Borderlands for PS3 for a lower price than the current $39.99 price at Best Buy; I paid 20.98 for it at T.R.U. After that, I took the game to Best Buy, told them I received it as a gift and got the store credit of 41.??, THEN I got what I really wanted, Resident Evil 5 G.E. and a 10 dollar PSN Card, but even the two items would still leave me with some credit, so I added the Silent Hill movie, and paid the 3 dollar difference in cash. R.E.5.G.E. was on sale for 10 less than normal this week for 29.99, it was now PSMove Compatible, I wanted a good shooter for the Move, and I had heard a LOT of good things about the game long before as well. I just wanted the PSP version of ModNation as well, after enjoying the PS3 version as well. The "NDS Flaw" item was a Nintendo DSi game titled "System Flaw". I got it the same day I got the Zoom Case.

Yeah, the apple really doesn't fall far from the tree.

 

[QI 541]

Didn't Chris also do things like buy games and then return them with fake/defective disks or something?

 

[BALLZ-BROKEN]

Also, from either Bob or Barb I can't remember, "Get your black ass back in the gutter!" Something along those lines. That always really offended me. Admittedly probably more than it should.

That was [cwc]Barbara Chandler[/cwc]. prank call seems to be gone though.

Bob did say "Get your black ass..." Barb said "I ain't got no black ass!", in response to a soundboard of Bob. Why she didn't recognize her husband's voice is anyone's guess.

While the "black ass" comment is questionable, if Bob was a huge racist there are more colorful (heh) terms he could of used.

The same goes for the "white house" joke. That joke is more offensive in its blandness than any racial insensitively. It's possible Bob had more raunchier jokes, but Chris didn't want to share them because he didn't understand them, or even he has limits.

I guess what I'm saying is that if Bob was racist, he was the laziest racist around.

 

[MysticMisty]

The raunchiest joke Bob taught Chris was the breakfast one. If Bob had more, he didn't share them with Chris because he'd have butchered them too.

 

[Alec Benson Leary]

I've often wondered why Bob loved (or at least tolerated) Chris so much. Bob abandoned other Children of his who went on to be much more successful and normal than Chris.

It doesn't seem like it was Bob's decision. I get the impression that his other children were the ones who decided to excise him from their lives. Chris is too dependent on his parents to ever leave, so that's all Bob had left to work with.

Yeah, this is it. DAG and the other one just set up their own lives that didn't need their shitty dad in it.