Passive Belligerence

My new buzz word is this - Passive Belligerence.

I see it all of the time but could not quite find that perfect description of what I was seeing. It flew out of my mouth even before I knew what I was saying (not a huge surprise to those that know me).

Why is it that with puberty comes an attitude of passive belligerence? WWhy do some adolescents- and beyond in many cases - act as though the world ought to stop and cater to them? When did common decency, common sense and just plain ol' manners move to the end of the line?

One small example in within a myriad of more. Our school is right smack dab next door to the local middle school. Traffic jams are a common occurance on the side street between the two. This morning, I am leaving the parking lot, make a right turn toward the middle school. A student from that school jumps out in the middle of the street, with his baggy pants showing his chonies, cuts in between cars and slows his pace to match that of a crippled little old lady. He stops traffic and laughs at the drivers. His friends on the sidewalk are laughing at his antics. He then proceeds to flip off the drivers. All of the cars had to stop and wait while he did his thing.

What in the world is telling this guy that what he just did is ok? Who is feeding into this kid's life that this kind of behavior is tolerated and appropriate?

It scares me to think that my children will have to work with these people in the not soooo far future.