I taught my son that if you treat others with manners and respect, a lot of the rest will come naturally throughout life. Kids are a reflection of their parents, so I hope he doesn't STD everyone he sleeps with.

My utmost rule is terrible, but true:

Trust no one.

How many times have you put your trust in someone, and it backfires on you worse than a potato in a tailpipe? You can trust with caution, but let's face it.........there will ALWAYS be someone out there that wants to hurt you, whether it's with a few unkind words, a few stabs of a spork to the neck, or the drive thru cashier at Wendy's that's gonna rip you good so they suck up for that all mighty fry cook puppy-style position with Mr. 'Sam Elliott wannabe' manager....the body odor of funky onions also comes with your 5-cents-an-hour raise.

Also, be cordial to the rest of the world, but always, always be aware of your surroundings.

Partial trust~ give semi-benefit of the doubt. If you go all the way with your trust, you're putting it all out there and take the chance on it being abused right off the bat. (Vulnerable regret is acceptable when you're young, but if you're 50, you need shot for stupidity). If you go half way with it, you're seeing what the other person is made of, and they have to earn the other half.

If they earn it, you'll respect them more, and if they botch it up, you've hopefully learned a valuable lesson, and you've learned how to anonymously sign them up to every NAMBLA site on the world wide web. It's not that you are being mean~ you're just being.........cautious. Nothing wrong with watchin' your back and the hair that grows upon it.

Of course once you move out on your own, become alcoholics and a whores, some of that crap goes right out the window, and you wake up hungover spewing into the 6 week old Dominos box beside the bed~ So don't quote me, man~ I loathe hypocrisy.