It is tough to be the parent of someone who is an adult in the eyes of the legal system and a child in seemingly every other sense.
Please keep that in mind when you read about Quebec hockey legend Guy Lafleur being convicted of giving contradictory evidence during his troubled son's bail hearing. It's the difference between showing sympathy and showing compassion. It is the easy way out for anyone who's in the media (which is all of us) to just to do a drive-by on him. It is a valid news story, but there are lines that should not be crossed and frankly, this is one of them.
It's acceptable that it's real journalistic dynamite whenever a big sports star is found to have feet of clay. Guy Lafleur was the last transcendent Montreal Canadiens goal scorer who radiated that Gallic élan, and he certainly has lived his life in the public spotlight. Despite all that, a gut feeling is that regaling oneself over this crosses the line. Having a troubled adult son to deal with is the ultimate Catch-22; do you try to rescue her or him, do you show tough love, do you cut 'em loose?
One can only assume what has gone through Guy Lafleur's mind during this ordeal. He isn't the first big sports star whose progeny had trouble sticking to the straight and narrow, or secreting their own identity. Mark Lafleur isn't the first person to have trouble after being given everything by his parents, especially since he has Tourette's Syndrome.
Honestly, though, this is for them to sort out, not for some cheap yucks. Hey, you know the saying: As long as they spell your name right.
Related:
Guy Lefleur's Idiot Son Gets His Old Man In Trouble With The Law (Dashiell Bennett, Deadspin)
Guy-lty (Four Habs Fans)
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
Posts
8 comments:
I am sympathetic to the fact that Lafleur has problems with a deeply troubled son. I am far less sympathetic to his specific actions in this case.
Let's be clear of the facts -- Guy was driving the son to late night booty calls with his underage girlfriend. (The utter cluelessness or incompetence of this girl's guardians is breathtaking - it's late at night, and you have no idea that your 16 year old daughter is in a hotel room with her 22 year old boyfriend? Yikes.) It's not like they were at the gym or driving range past curfew. What did Guy do, go have coffee at the local Tim's while junior was busy in the hotel room with a girl who still had her learner's permit? There is an "ick" factor at play here that is difficult to overlook.
If you want to feel for someone, spare a thought for Guy's long suffering wife. Not only did she put up with Guy's carousing over the years, but now she gets to watch as he enables her son to also be a hound dog. Charming.
Fair points, for sure, and you're justified in pointing out an "ick factor." I won't touch that, even though it violated the half your age plus 7 rule.
The way I feel is that I have no right to judge. None of us are anywhere near perfect, and we don't know how people work this out among themselves.
Sorry to bump in, but Lafleur's son has the Gilles de la Tourette syndrome. A mental condition, and at the time of the problems, didn't take / or had problem taking its medication. Mental conditions is a tough thing to judge especially if you never had a close one affected...
I don't want to excuse anybody, but just putting the facts straight.
Those facts, though, don't excuse Mark's father from violating his undertaking to the court to have his son in before curfew every night, and then lying about it. That is the issue here - lying to the court. The courts take a very dim view of that - it goes right to the integrity of the justice system, and understandably judges feel it has to be addressed and defended. And yes, the integrity of the legal system has to come before your child's needs, especially when those needs came in the form of a tawdry late night booty call.
I don't think we're debating the crime itself. I'm not a lawyer.
The point was that parents with a troubled child who is legally an adult are really under a lot of pressure. Maybe it's something the courts should consider (25 is the new 18, right?). I just wanted people to understand that much before they piled on Guy Lafleur.
25 is the new 18 -- I laugh, but somewhat darkly, because Lord is it ever true. I'm not sure what exactly prompted this push towards permanent adolescence, but it's out there. There was an article in the Globe last week about young adults asking mommy or daddy to do their taxes for them. I would have sooner died, but shame seems to be in short supply these days.
There's a good book about that phenomenon called Guyland.
(Psssst. I'm I'm 18 plus two touchdowns and my mother does my taxes. She has a tax-filing program, that's my excuse.)
Shame on you, Neate. :-)
Doing your taxes used to be like dental work, but between QuickTax software and e-filing it is ridiculously easy now. I have to think that QuickTax has put a dent in all of those storefront tax preparation businesses...
Post a Comment