My Dad (RIP)was on his own from the age of 13. He was a Marine in WW2, a logger in the 50's, owned a gravel pit where I worked when I was 13 & 14, a single family contractor and a real estate broker and developer. My Mom was his high school sweetheart and Blackfeet Indian, which, in 1941, which caused racist issues to come up occaisionally. He was a stud and was also one of the coolest guys around. Dad just died last December at 83 years old. He had already bought his tickets to Acapulco to see his local fishing buddies that he'd gone out with for 25 years. I never heard him put down anyone based on their race, clothes style or haircut. As fair as I am aware, he gave everybody a chance to show their true colors but disliked cheats, unethical people, of which there are plenty in the real estate business, and people that backed out after giving their word. When I bought my first 45, Carl Perkins Blue Suede Shoes on the Sun Label, in 1956 and played it along with Chuck Berry, Jerry Lee Lewis and Big Joe Turner on my box type record player too loud, my Dad would ask me to turn it down but never dogged me about the music. My Mom went to UW in 1940 in the music program so we always had music going in the house. When I was in a singing group in high school, he made sure we had a place to practice. He was always tolerant of other people from a "walk a mile in their shoes' viewpoint.
He taught all 8 of us kids how to hunt, fish and how to survive in the woods.
When I came back from Viet Nam, he apologized to me for not talking me out of going as he had realized while I was in how big a mistake the war was.
I've realized over the last 20 years how lucky I am to have had a Dad like him. I'm 61 now and his teaching me by example was the best thing I've ever had going for me. Yea - being like my Dad is the best thing I could think of.
Oh yea- about the baggy pants and the rap music - it's all just show and really don't mean shiat in the long run.