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Last Modified: Oct 1, 1995 |
Generations |
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Hey kids!
Skippy here. You know, I've been thinking recently about
generations. No, you pathetic little nerd, not
Star Trek: Generations. No, I'm talking about my generation
(sorry, had to do it), as well as the older generations and God help us,
the younger generations. How do we all fit together? Who decides which
generation is the arbiter of cool? Why are baby boomers so damn annoying?
Important questions all, and I will answer them for you in just a bit. First
though, I would like to talk about my generation.
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I am a slacker, a gen Xer, a twentysomething. For years now, we have been
written off as unmotivated, surly and generally apathetic. I would just like
to say in our defense, who really gives a damn? I mean look at who is saying
this about us - the boomers, for God's sake! Now there is a bunch with some
moral integrity to throw around. This is the pack of craven whiners who sold
their souls to the highest bidder in the eighties so they could have a new
BMW. We are supposed to put any stock into what they say about us? I will
give credit where credit is due, they seemed to be pretty on top of things
in the sixties, but in the past thirty years? Let's just say you've probably
made your parents proud guys. Back to us though, yes, we do not care about
much. Yes, we are not what you would call strivers, by and large. No, we
don't tend to get involved with the running of our country. You have to
remember when we grew up though, my idea of a life's goal when I was twelve
was to live with Chrissy and Janet in San Diego. Look at the Presidents we
had to look up to - Nixon, Ford, Carter and Reagan. Now if that isn't a
pantheon of inspiring leaders then I don't know what is. No wonder we put so
much stock in our political leaders. We grew up with a crook, a klutz, a
weenie and a robot as our nation's leaders. Inspiring? I'll say, I get
goosebumps just thinking about it. You see folks, it's a simple thing
really. We watched the boomers slowly go from idealistic world savers to
cynical me-firsters and decided, "Hey, let's cut out the middle man!" We are
apathetic, but that's because the boomers showed us where believing in
something will get you - bleeding and in jail.
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So how do we all fit together? It's a pretty easy question when you think
about it. The so-called silent generation, the ones that begat the boomers,
they are into the irrelevant phase of their careers. They have done all that
they are going to do and can now sit back and carp about how the rest of us
are screwing it up. The boomers are in control now. They run just about
everything that's worth running in this country. Our generation is the one
that's supposed to shake things up. You know, light a fire under the
boomers' tails. As anyone can see, we've passed on doing that and now we're
just shooting for a job that doesn't require a nametag and a hairnet. What
about the kids just coming up, you ask? I think that they will be the next
activist generation. There are a lot of them and I believe they will take
one look at us and think that we could have changed things had we tried.
They will be wrong of course, but that won't stop them from mounting the
barricades again...just like Grandma & Grandpa!
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What's cool, who determines it? The common belief is that the youngest
functioning generation is the trendsetter. However, I think it is more of an
inter-generational thing. The silents think the boomers are a bunch of
pathetic whiners. We on the other hand think that boomers are fairly slick
(the generation as a whole, not me personally, I think they're weenies). The
boomers don't get our generation at all. The generation behind us thinks
that we had it at one time, but now we're just a pack of self-loathing, TV
watching pinheads. They are right of course, but that is something else all
together. If you had to break it down to a simple formula, the boomers are
middle-of-the-road cool, we are fringe cool and the kids coming up are the
cutting edge.
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That's it really, your generational primer. You no longer need be confused
when people start spouting off about generation gaps or generational
politics or what have you. Don't you feel so much better about yourself now?
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Skippy
Skippy's Columns:
Generations
Skippy Looks at the TV Season
An Open Letter to Mr. Bob Dole
Responsibility
Friends
Let us Bow Our Heads in Prayer
The Family Column
Random Ideas
Why is Skippy Here?