Oh man, you nailed it here. The same thing happened to me.
I had some traumatic life experiences as a young woman. Up until those things started happeneing, I was absolutely convinced that I just freaking knew everything. One day I woke up to a brand-new crisis, and had a sudden, blinding realization that I didn’t know jack. We’re talking a Saul-on-the-road-to-Damascus-style epiphany here. I suddenly relaized that I was a moron, and everything my parents ever told me was right. Once I accepted these facts, my life began to get much better.
Cristi, Slayer of Peeps
I made my husband join a bridge club. He jumps next Tuesday.
As someone who somehow ended up in Generation Y, permit me to claim that I try to keep hypocrisy to a minimum in my life; that I have ethical standards and I strive vigorously to maintain them; and that I try actually to live the low impact lifestyle which I espouse.
What baffles me is the supposed apathy and bleak outlook these kids now have. They don’t care, life sucks, the world’s a rotten place.
I’m 37, and when I was 18 all we had to worry about was the threat of global destruction, constant economic recessions, high unemployment, double-digit inflation and interest rates. And yet we were a pretty happy bunch.
Wait a minute…just wait a minute. Only a small percentage of protesters were doing the property damage. And these people weren’t protesting the WTO; they came here with the sole intent of trashing the city.
The majority of protesters were nonviolent. I repeat, NONVIOLENT. So stop being overly emotional and get the damn facts straight!
And as a member of Gen Y, I admit that we’re idiots, but every day I see people in their 30’s and 40’s that fit the descriptions given here as well. It’s convenient to put the blame on one age group, but not at all accurate.
Well, you know, it could be the lack of any real worrisome problems that is the sore spot for Gen X/Y. There’s precious little for people as a whole to rally around, so we fractionalize ourselve over piddly little stuff, instead of pulling together.
Do not meddle in the affairs of dragons, for you are crunchy and taste good dipped in chocolate.
So, the simplest way to combat the OP is to not debate it, but to ignore it, and try to live the best possible lives we can, arguing not with criticism, and feeling a sense of community with all of humanity, rather than the people who were born at the same time as us. We should not feel some sort of sense of superiority when do not fall into the category so defined, but should instead realize that we too are fallible. And therefore, we should not make generalizations based on “generations,” rejoicing rather in the similarities throughout the ages.
A “generation” in the way the media uses it is more than people that were born in a certain set of years; it is more of a marketing term to describe a demographic of people with similar views on life and thus similar vunrabilities to certain types of advertising. Just because you were born in 1981 does not mean you have to be a "Gen-Y"er–just decline to dipsplay all the symbols that that generation uses to express their group identity. Participate in the larger American culture instead of limiting your exposure to "Gen-Y’ culture. Don’t wear shirts with words on them, don’t watch MTV, don’t use the trendiest slang, don’t wallow in nostalgia for the period that “defines” your generation, and make friends in all age groups, not merely the people two years older or younger than you. This is what I do, and no one has ever treated me as a member of my “generation” (Gen X).
They had Birkenstocks back then? I’ll be dipped in a never-ending list of contradictions if I don’t learn something new every single day around here!
Sigh. I don’t really mean to single you out jakrabit, but, "(T)he saying(,) ‘You are unique, just like everybody else(,)’ just leaped out at me . . . " is just the kind of thing I might have said, had I said it.
But you’re right just the same. You are.
I don’t know your parents, but I’m damned proud to read your capitulation. At least all of their efforts did not go for naught.
(Hint: They’d be a bit proud to know that you understand, and reject, their efforts as well, and perhaps you should clue them in that you’re proud to be an asshole. It ought to make for an interesting Sunday dinner.)
Oh, and mouthbreather: never mind. Lycidas is not about to rise from the Irish Sea on account of this nonsense, and it seems that the more rational among us will not be lured into caring about the manifestations of abject idiocy. It was fun to try though . . .
Dr. Watson
“Nobody wants to kiss when they are hungry.” – Dorothy Dix
