I could be reading this completely wrong, but it makes me think of something that might be worth posting in open thread (or not, depending on how much it's just me whining); that is, I've read stories that give me a picture of what's normal and how social interaction is supposed to work, and when I wonder if there are any lessons there to apply to my own life, I quite quickly conclude that they aren't applicable. Of course, free range children is a general assumption of 99% of everything I've read. And, in fact, if anyone ever advises me to do anything, it most always assumes more freedoms than I actually have.

(I'm mostly concerned that I can't generalize this to something not incredibly specific to my situation. I think I've veered quite far from the original point as it is.)