I am a logger and a farmer and, for 48 years, have been self-employed. I have had many good crews, but in the past 10 years things have changed for the worse.

Now there are the “awesomes,” or “boys” who don’t work at all. The girls work very hard at three jobs to support those boys in their 20s, 30s and 40s. Their boyfriends are the “awesomes.”

Now the guys are on Social Security and disability for life, just for being lazy.

I cannot get anyone to crawl under a bulldozer, skidder or log truck on a warm day, never mind a day that is minus 25. They say that isn’t “awesome.”

They live in nice, warm houses, either with a grandmother, mother or girlfriend, on their computers, checking out the social media. They have wire arms, no muscle, earrings, hats on backward and wear shorts and sneakers even in the winter. Isn’t that awesome?

They are our future.

A real logger is out getting beat up by tree limbs, dealing with mud, slammed around in a skidder and worked over by heavy chainsaws.

It is great that the girls are taking over. They have earned it. The boys are talking softly and getting prettier than their sisters.

They are the “awesomes.”

People should think when they use that word.

Wake up, people.

Where is the tough love?

Maurice LaCroix Jr., West Peru