I'm one of them there Gen-X-ers; those of us who, according to Wikipedia, were born between 1964 and 1974.As a member of Gen-X, and, if Wikipedia is to be believed, right smack in the middle of it, here's a quick list of the things I've been told will ruin American society and make me an antisocial, mildly retarded buffoon:
1. MTV
2. Walkmen
3. Video Games
4. Cable
And then when I was already on the verge of old fart, the list grew more techno-centric:
5. Computers
6. Internet
7. Cell Phones
8. iPods
9. Facebook
10. Twitter
I can remember being 19 and deeply annoyed with the inevitable Baby Boomer yammering about how were awesome they were and how they changed the world and ended a war and that we were, tsk tsk, going to regret not growing up exactly the same way they did. But really, we were just living in the world they left us and doing out best to make it our own.
As we creep past relevance, this is what grown-ups do. We disparage the stuff kids do instead of giving the kids credit for talking to each other in their own way, for making the world their own.
I've said it before and I'll say it again: the day you're an old fart is the day you privilege your own way of growing up over the way the kids have forged for themselves.
All that said, young people, and with much respect for the world you're making, just one thing, please: stop with the mid-1980's fashion. We looked stupid. You look stupid. If you're going to go old school, go with late-70s and early-80s. You're young! You can pull off those skinny jeans. Only Joan Collins can pull off shoulder pads.
