By Dave Begel Contributing Writer Published Jun 20, 2015 at 8:06 PM Photography: shutterstock.com

OK, the curmudgeon staggers out of the dugout and steps up to the plate as he calls his shot.

Think back to the time when you were just a baby, those special moments. 

When you played with your wooden blocks and for the first time, you built a tower of three blocks.

When you took a crayon and drew a shaky circle on a piece of paper and then colored it in with another crayon, almost staying inside the lines.

When stood at the top of the slide in the playground, holding on for dear life as you prepared to slide down for the first time.

The common phrase for all of these infant moments?

"Hey, mama. Look at me."

Infantile behavior for infants.

Well, to all those millennials and people on both sides of that age group, that "Look at me, mama," is the kind of thing you should be shouting each time you take or post a selfie.

I’ve thought about this a lot, and for the life of me, I can’t imagine why anyone would shoot a picture of themselves and post it on some social media website.

If you want to take a picture of your kids or your house or an animal at a zoo or a tree or a bunch of people at a beach or a musician you are listening to or a great burger you have or a golf course or a city worker sleeping on the job, fine.

But yourself?

Tell me what it is that makes you do this. Tell me what other people are supposed to get out of it and what you are supposed to get out of it.

Most of us who are your Facebook friends already know what you look like. If you are in a bar with a martini glass in your hand, why do you have to take a picture of it and send it to us?

Think of all the selfies you’ve seen. People who are being sexy, funny, crazy, drunk, sad, happy, engaged, disengaged. People who are dancing, sitting, eating, drinking, doing karaoke, smiling, crying, petting a pet, cooking, setting the table or, the most frequent of all, just looking at a camera believing that other people really want to see a picture of you looking at a camera.

I find it hard believe that so many people are so insecure that they take these pictures and send them out as some kind of self-validation.

But it makes me wonder about the generation that is chomping at the bit to take charge. These millennials are active and serious people. They like serious fun and serious challenges. Their confidence seems to be unbounded.

But it all comes unravelled when you think how much time and effort they put into taking silly pictures of themselves and sending them off into the ether of the internet.

There are lots of words to describe these "Hey, mommy, look at me" pictures, but just one that truly captures the essence of this habit.

Infantile.

Dave Begel Contributing Writer

With a history in Milwaukee stretching back decades, Dave tries to bring a unique perspective to his writing, whether it's sports, politics, theater or any other issue.

He's seen Milwaukee grow, suffer pangs of growth, strive for success and has been involved in many efforts to both shape and re-shape the city. He's a happy man, now that he's quit playing golf, and enjoys music, his children and grandchildren and the myriad of sports in this state. He loves great food and hates bullies and people who think they are smarter than everyone else.

This whole Internet thing continues to baffle him, but he's willing to play the game as long as OnMilwaukee.com keeps lending him a helping hand. He is constantly amazed that just a few dedicated people can provide so much news and information to a hungry public.

Despite some opinions to the contrary, Dave likes most stuff. But he is a skeptic who constantly wonders about the world around him. So many questions, so few answers.