>I've personally been acquainted with parents that didn't give a shit about their own kids.

Being a foster parent, so have I.

In fact, just being an active parent, I've seen it. When the littlebopper was young, and there were school events, you always knew which kids had parents that didn't care because they didn't show up to the school events.

And having been in family court more times than I can count, it always dumbfounded me how people showed up dressed for court. Spandex pants or dirty, torn jeans. T-shirts, often inappropriate. I mean, you're going before a judge who has the power to permanently rip your family apart, and you can't be bothered to go to the local thrift store like Goodwill or the Salvation Army and buy some presentable clothes for the cost of a pack of cigarettes and a 40 oz beer?

I always wore basically my work clothes, decent slacks and a button down shirt. Except on Adoption Day, when I wore my suit and the distaffbopper wore a nice dress.