# Individualist trends and fads: kids just phoning it in these days? **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [March 22, 2011, 6:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/individualist-trends-and-fads-kids-just-phoning-it-in-these-days/575631 "2011-03-22T18:14:54Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 6
**Author:** ![Zeriel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/58956e/32.png) [@Zeriel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zeriel)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2011, 12:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/individualist-trends-and-fads-kids-just-phoning-it-in-these-days/575631/101 "2011-03-28T00:33:53Z")
> [@treis](#): > > Yeah, what the hell is it with your generation and their desperate need to follow youth trends. My Grandpa would never in a million years listen to the music my Mom liked, and you should hear him rant about the shit they play today. Nothing screams uncool like a 40 year old guy desperately trying to cling to coolness by listening to his kid’s music. Y’know, there’s no rule that says your musical taste stops changing when you’re 30. The hell do you care what music the guy likes? ---
**Author:** ![Kozmik](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/8dc957/32.png) [@Kozmik](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kozmik)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2011, 1:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/individualist-trends-and-fads-kids-just-phoning-it-in-these-days/575631/102 "2011-03-28T01:47:34Z")
> [@olivesmarch4th](#): > > I am 28. I feel silly saying this, but I have more in common with the average sixteen year old than the average forty year old. We watch the same movies and TV shows, listen to the same music, and laugh at the same jokes. I understood immediately while watching that video that it was intended as a tongue-in-cheek jab at inane club music. It may be an unfair comparison; nevertheless, [Friday - Rebecca Black](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CD2LRROpph0) can be compared to [Candy - Mandy Moore](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_e4e-eXWbbs). I am 28 also, and I know what you mean. And I also get it - that Rebecca Black (like Mandy Moore) is trying to convey that she is a nice girl (whatever in society or among generations that means). I was ridiculed in this thread for saying that the only part I liked in “Friday” was the break. But (for once) I’m ahead of the curve because as KnowYourMeme [reported](http://knowyourmeme.com/memes/rebecca-black-friday), “the break has been notably singled out”. I do believe that Rebecca Black has a future in electronic dance music. However, I have to be honest and say Rebecca Black’s friends cannot compare to Mandy Moore’s friends (FYI PYT). Sorry. ---
**Author:** ![msmith537](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d9b06d/32.png) [@msmith537](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/msmith537)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2011, 4:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/individualist-trends-and-fads-kids-just-phoning-it-in-these-days/575631/103 "2011-03-28T04:19:25Z")
> [@treis](#): > > Yeah, what the hell is it with your generation and their desperate need to follow youth trends. My Grandpa would never in a million years listen to the music my Mom liked, and you should hear him rant about the shit they play today. Nothing screams uncool like a 40 year old guy desperately trying to cling to coolness by listening to his kid’s music. Uh…because all your music sounds EXACTLY like the music we listened to 20 years ago? It’s like every soundtrack, half the songs are 80s new wave and the other half are Vampire Weekend. And don’t believe the hype. The Decemberists and Arcade Fire are terrible. Besides. My Grandpa was too busy killing Japs to listen to much music. > [@SecretaryofEvil](#): > > You know how you know that you are an old man? When it starts pissing you off that young people aren’t living up to your pointless and conformist perceptions of how they’re supposed to be behaving. Ah the typical young person persecution complex. All the adults are trying to get me to conform to their “rules”. ---
**Author:** ![CanvasShoes](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/74df32/32.png) [@CanvasShoes](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CanvasShoes)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2011, 5:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/individualist-trends-and-fads-kids-just-phoning-it-in-these-days/575631/104 "2011-03-28T05:08:37Z")
> [@Justin\_Bailey](#): > > How many people from this “current generation” do you interact with on a regular basis? And does it matter that a lot of families are staying together longer because of the economy? And as long as we’re making gross generalizations, I’ll say it again, a lot of Boomers I have to deal with at my job are complete assholes. And the nicest people are green-haired, pierced twentysomethings. Why none of course, my route to and from work, my work environment, bank, the starbucks near my office, stores etc. are all populated only by people my own age. In fact, I’ve never seen anyone from the current generation, nor do I know any. And somehow, my kids and the children of friends my age magically don’t know anyone of their generation either, so I can’t tell by their friends and acquaintances either. My post specifically did NOT overgeneralize by saying “this generation”. What I actually said was “a large percentage _ **seems** _…”. Nor did I say anything about the current generation being either nice _or_ assholes. My statement was strictly about their dependence. You are the one who decided **for** me that I meant dependence=bad. ---
**Author:** ![Attack\_from\_the\_3rd\_dimension](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/b38774/32.png) [@Attack\_from\_the\_3rd\_dimension](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Attack_from_the_3rd_dimension)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2011, 9:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/individualist-trends-and-fads-kids-just-phoning-it-in-these-days/575631/105 "2011-03-28T09:31:28Z")
> [@monstro](#): > > There is no reason, other than real estate agents and developers think and advise clients to think the same. My hope for kids today? That they will see that this is a myth and will go in the opposite direction. > > [/soapboxing hijack] It sounds like you’ve read Susan Susanka’s [_The Not So Big House_](http://www.amazon.com/Not-So-Big-House-Blueprint/dp/1600851509/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1301304548&sr=8-1). If not, you ought. It’s your manifesto. ---
**Author:** ![Starving\_Artist](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/aeb1de/32.png) [@Starving\_Artist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Starving_Artist)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2011, 9:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/individualist-trends-and-fads-kids-just-phoning-it-in-these-days/575631/106 "2011-03-28T09:51:13Z")
> [@BigT](#): > > Just thought I’d let you know there’s already a counter movement. It’s not big enough yet to give you links, but just look at any site, and there will be people defending her. The thing with our generation’s politeness is that it goes away online when we aren’t talking with our friendds. > > BTW, for me it’s not the lyrics but the voice. While, the lyrics suck, they really aren’t worse than many other crappy songs I’ve heard. It’s really more the way she sang it. I heard her sing acoustic, and her voice is awesome, but they totally ruined it with the effects. > > She is also the most professional sounding 13 year old I have ever heard of in interviews. > > One more thing: Either I’m getting old or I’ve been hanging out here too long, as this is the first meme I’ve missed for this long. Thanks for the update. Sorry I missed it earlier. And yeah, from what I’ve read (assuming it’s correct this time :D) she’s a pretty sharp kid. Honors student and performing in every school play since the first grade. Who knows, maybe ten years from now she’ll be a star. ---
**Author:** ![msmith537](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d9b06d/32.png) [@msmith537](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/msmith537)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2011, 12:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/individualist-trends-and-fads-kids-just-phoning-it-in-these-days/575631/107 "2011-03-28T12:09:09Z")
> [@Attack from the 3rd dimension](#): > > It sounds like you’ve read Susan Susanka’s The Not So Big House. If not, you ought. It’s your **manifesto**. Interesting word choice. Because those tiny houses look like Unibomber shacks. 800 sq ft is like a typical Manhattan appartment. Even 1200 sq ft is a typical 2BR 2 BA suburban home. Hardly huge by any standard, but perhaps a bit much for just one person. Most people don’t want to live in a shoebox, especially if they plan to raise a family. ---
**Author:** ![zweisamkeit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zweisamkeit/32/4360_2.png) [@zweisamkeit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zweisamkeit)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2011, 1:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/individualist-trends-and-fads-kids-just-phoning-it-in-these-days/575631/108 "2011-03-28T13:22:57Z")
> [@msmith537](#): > > Interesting word choice. Because those tiny houses look like Unibomber shacks. 800 sq ft is like a typical Manhattan appartment. Even 1200 sq ft is a typical 2BR 2 BA suburban home. Hardly huge by any standard, but perhaps a bit much for just one person. Most people don’t want to live in a shoebox, especially if they plan to raise a family. I’d say 1200 sqft for 2br/2ba is a bit on the high side. I grew up in a 1950s suburban ranch with 3br and 1.5ba and it was 1050 sqft. And you realize you’re just parroting exactly what the real-estate agent kept saying, right? **Monstro** is having the house built for her, not some other family 20 years down the road. I understand that when someone is specifically choosing to do something that is markedly different than the mainstream (be it having a very small house built, picking up and moving across the country with no job lined up, even getting a stick shift in a non-sporty car\*), people may want to make sure s/he knows the potential issues s/he may face down the road. But once it’s clear that s/he’s aware of those issues, back off. Understanding that your choice is a definite minority choice within society doesn’t automatically mean you will change your decision. And remaining steadfast is not automatically a sign you are just being stubborn or that you don’t _really_ understand the potential issues. - and hell yes, this gets the same kind of reaction from a LOT of people. Are you sure? No one wants a stick shift nowadays. You’ll have a hard time selling it later on, etc. ---
**Author:** ![Justin\_Bailey](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/justin_bailey/32/8792_2.png) [@Justin\_Bailey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Justin_Bailey)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2011, 1:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/individualist-trends-and-fads-kids-just-phoning-it-in-these-days/575631/109 "2011-03-28T13:33:31Z")
> [@zweisamkeit](#): > > I’d say 1200 sqft for 2br/2ba is a bit on the high side. I grew up in a 1950s suburban ranch with 3br and 1.5ba and it was 1050 sqft. I wouldn’t say that’s high at all. I live in a house built in 1950 with 3BR/1BA and it’s a little over 1400. For two people, it’s really not that big considering the layout. ---
**Author:** ![Zeriel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/58956e/32.png) [@Zeriel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zeriel)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2011, 2:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/individualist-trends-and-fads-kids-just-phoning-it-in-these-days/575631/110 "2011-03-28T14:51:15Z")
> [@Justin\_Bailey](#): > > I wouldn’t say that’s high at all. I live in a house built in 1950 with 3BR/1BA and it’s a little over 1400. For two people, it’s really not that big considering the layout. I’m currently renting a 3BR/1BA at 1100sq ft., myself. ---
**Author:** ![Peremensoe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ce7236/32.png) [@Peremensoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peremensoe)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2011, 4:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/individualist-trends-and-fads-kids-just-phoning-it-in-these-days/575631/111 "2011-03-28T16:04:48Z")
I’m interested in pursuing this small-house discussion, if anyone else has thoughts on the matter. I think both the specific subject and the general ones of this thread would be best served by breaking the house discussion off separately. The new thread is [How big does a house for one person, or two, need to be?](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=602387) ---
**Author:** ![SecretaryofEvil](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e95f7d/32.png) [@SecretaryofEvil](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SecretaryofEvil)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2011, 4:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/individualist-trends-and-fads-kids-just-phoning-it-in-these-days/575631/112 "2011-03-28T16:48:10Z")
> [@msmith537](#): > > Do kids still use the word “cool” anymore? > > It’s supposed to be the other way around. Your parents are supposed to be yelling at you to turn that music down, not copying your My Chemical Romance mp3s to their iPod. > > Yes, I can probably quote you a hundred “listen to my generation” songs from the past 40 years. The point I was trying to convey was that previous generations seemed to have more of a sense of frustration that they weren’t being listened to. AClockworkMelon seemed to imply that his generation felt more like they were treated like “people with something to say”. > > I don’t know if that is necesarily a good thing. Isn’t it one of the roles of young people to challenge the status quo with new ideas? > [@msmith537](#): > > Ah the typical young person persecution complex. All the adults are trying to get me to conform to their “rules”. I thought a young person mocking you and telling you that you don’t understand him is exactly what you wanted. I thought a young person treating your views with contempt would make you happy. You old people are such hypocrites. My generation tells it like it is, man. ---
**Author:** ![gaffa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e68b1a/32.png) [@gaffa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gaffa)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2011, 11:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/individualist-trends-and-fads-kids-just-phoning-it-in-these-days/575631/113 "2011-03-28T23:06:04Z")
I shoot concert videos, and every year I do a dozen or shows by the various branches of the School of Rock. It is an after-school program for ages seven to seventeen that gets kids on stage in real venues, playing rock and roll for paying customers. And the performances vary from “Isn’t that cute!” to “I’m gonna pay money to see any band this kid starts!”. I’m 50, and if the kids I see in this program are any indication, I have no fears for the future. They are motivated and hard working, talented and professional. I’m distressed when they get tattoos, but I’m distressed when anyone, of any age, gets a tattoo. I am especially proud that my 21 year old niece has resisted getting one. I told her a number of years back: “Do whatever you like to your hair - cut it, dye it, shave it off - it will grow back. Any clothes you wear, doesn’t matter - they’ll all eventually end up in the trash or at Goodwill. Just don’t get a tattoo because your life will change. When I was 17, I had a powder blue polyester leisure suit - don’t laugh, they were once _fashionable_. You’ll notice, I’m not wearing it now.” If I have no other affect on her life, if that one piece of advice remains, I have fulfilled my purpose as an uncle. ---
**Author:** ![Freudian\_Slit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/5daacb/32.png) [@Freudian\_Slit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Freudian_Slit)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2011, 11:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/individualist-trends-and-fads-kids-just-phoning-it-in-these-days/575631/114 "2011-03-28T23:11:55Z")
> [@SecretaryofEvil](#): > > I thought a young person mocking you and telling you that you don’t understand him is exactly what you wanted. I thought a young person treating your views with contempt would make you happy. You old people are such hypocrites. My generation tells it like it is, man. I’m confused, too. I’m picturing **msmith** as a Hollywood type casting agent. “Give me typical rebellious youth! No, TOO rebellious, dammit!” ---
**Author:** ![Attack\_from\_the\_3rd\_dimension](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/b38774/32.png) [@Attack\_from\_the\_3rd\_dimension](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Attack_from_the_3rd_dimension)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2011, 11:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/individualist-trends-and-fads-kids-just-phoning-it-in-these-days/575631/115 "2011-03-28T23:31:48Z")
> [@msmith537](#): > > Interesting word choice. Because those tiny houses look like Unibomber shacks. 800 sq ft is like a typical Manhattan appartment. Even 1200 sq ft is a typical 2BR 2 BA suburban home. Hardly huge by any standard, but perhaps a bit much for just one person. Most people don’t want to live in a shoebox, especially if they plan to raise a family. Are you commenting on the teeny weeny houses in the other post, or the houses in Sarah Susanka’s\* book? Cause they aren’t quite the same. Susanka’s are not mini-Unibomber shacks, they’re just well made and proportional to human scales, and use the money that would otherwise be invested in gawdawful excess square footage in a McMansion to properly design a house of appropriate scale. \*sorry about getting the name wrong. ---
**Author:** ![Attack\_from\_the\_3rd\_dimension](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/b38774/32.png) [@Attack\_from\_the\_3rd\_dimension](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Attack_from_the_3rd_dimension)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2011, 11:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/individualist-trends-and-fads-kids-just-phoning-it-in-these-days/575631/116 "2011-03-28T23:33:46Z")
> [@zweisamkeit](#): > > - and hell yes, this gets the same kind of reaction from a LOT of people. Are you sure? No one wants a stick shift nowadays. You’ll have a hard time selling it later on, etc. Sorry to double post. I love the stick shift. The real problem is watching _Top Gear_ and then drifting through my little town the next day. Apparently that’s bad. ---
**Author:** ![Yookeroo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yookeroo/32/323_2.png) [@Yookeroo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yookeroo)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2011, 1:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/individualist-trends-and-fads-kids-just-phoning-it-in-these-days/575631/117 "2011-03-29T01:12:32Z")
> [@gaffa](#): > > Just don’t get a tattoo because your life will change. I have a couple of tattoos. Didn’t change my life. ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2011, 1:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/individualist-trends-and-fads-kids-just-phoning-it-in-these-days/575631/118 "2011-03-29T01:15:34Z")
> [@gaffa](#): > > I’m distressed when anyone, of any age, gets a tattoo. By now I should have learned to just ignore nonsense like this, but just for the record: this is completely ludicrous, people often get tattoos of things that DON’T change, and I’ll be charitable and say I’m sure you’ve done better than this as an uncle. ---
**Author:** ![gaffa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e68b1a/32.png) [@gaffa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gaffa)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2011, 1:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/individualist-trends-and-fads-kids-just-phoning-it-in-these-days/575631/119 "2011-03-29T01:59:08Z")
> [@Yookeroo](#): > > I have a couple of tattoos. Didn’t change my life. The point is, your life could change, and you’re stuck\* with an indelible piece of debris from the life you used to have. Maybe you have a boring life. But I have friends who have served time and have prison tattoos that they regret because they are no longer criminals. I have a friend who used to be a radical separatist lesbian who had a tattoo that read “If It Smells Like Fish, Eat It” who is now a straight woman with children. People _other than you_ lead lives that can change. _Those people_ need to have the option to donate their powder blue leisure suit to Goodwill. You must have chosen the world’s most beautiful powder blue leisure suit and will proudly wear it every single day until you die. - Don’t give me any of that “tattoo removal” crap. Tattoo “removal” is replacing a tattoo with a burn. You do not get your unblemished skin back, you get a scar. ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2011, 2:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/individualist-trends-and-fads-kids-just-phoning-it-in-these-days/575631/120 "2011-03-29T02:07:33Z")
> [@gaffa](#): > > The point is, your life could change, and you’re stuck\* with an indelible piece of debris from the life you used to have. I don’t consider my past garbage. If I did, so what? > [@](#): > > _Those people_ need to have the option to donate their powder blue leisure suit to Goodwill. The problem here - and people who voice their fear of “being stuck” with a tattoo often make this mistake - is not that when you get a tattoo, you’re stuck with it and regret it forever. It’s that if you get a _bad_ tattoo, you’re stuck with a bad tattoo. If you get one that is neither bad nor stupid, it’s not such a problem. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/individualist-trends-and-fads-kids-just-phoning-it-in-these-days/575631.md?page=5) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/individualist-trends-and-fads-kids-just-phoning-it-in-these-days/575631.md?page=7)