Tragedy, sex and computers

I am one of those youth you talked of. No, I personally do not see most of the older population as doddering fools. But I get the feeling they see us as fools. But that's the attitude in every generation and probably not an unfounded one. I think with most of the youth it's the same thing as other youth. I don't think our generation has much of an identity; we take other generations' fashion statements. A lot of us wanted high school to be as simply stereotypical as the movies portray it to be. We wanted there to be the stupid jocks and the geeky smart kids, and some people try very hard to mold themselves into those things: I am smart therefore I must be a prep or a nerd. I have a blue mohawk therefore I must be angry at the world.

Most relationships I know have the consistency of popcorn, light and fun. I have been in one serious relationship out of seven, and let me tell you the one that was serious still hurts me to this day. I broke up with him and I'm not sure why; I wasn't ready for the commitment of it, I think, but I still love him.

No one wants to talk about STDs, and if we do it's to make fun of them. For all the sex ed we get, my friends still ask me if they can get pregnant when he didn't come in them and didn't even come close to it. A lot of us tune it out because we hear it all the time.

I think I am bound to mention (though I think it is the same with most generations) that everything is a bloody drama. I had the worst childhood or I have the worst parents or I had the most abusive relationship. Even if it was bad, everyone I know thinks that it could not possibly be worse when they know for a fact that it could be. They are so arrogant about it as if they are proud of being the "best" at something.

I live in Florida and when 9/11 happened a lot of my friends just made noises. They look at things like the Holocaust and say, "That was really sad." I think that we as a generation are incredibly jaded when it comes to tragedy, sex and computers.

Arrggg.

-- Sonnet Robinson

Youth is a state of mind

For anyone to know how being young is "different" now than before means they'd have to have been young both times.

Ultimately, youth is not a time of life but a (horribly clichéd) state of mind. Every man who's left his wife after 20 years of marriage for a woman 20 years of age does it to feel young again. As do women who carve their faces and inject poison in their brows so that the evidence of having been thoughtful and alive can be replaced with the blank slate that is chronological youth. Seeking the comfort of established limits (i.e., when you can and can't go outside) is not an indicator of youth, but a reflection on the uncertainty you feel about making your own decisions. Sure, the circumstances of being young change with the times, but, by and large, the experiences do not: Young men and women still exchange sex for recognition -- still confuse freedom with a lack of responsibility.

I'm 31 and have more freedom, feel more alive and tingle with more possibility than ever before. As a married man, in a loving relationship with a wonderful woman, life is more adventurous -- and I get much more than recognition from sex; I get far more satisfaction and experimentation and surprise, as well. The responsibilities in my life that I've acquired with age haven't made me old -- my mortgage means I live in a wonderful place of my choosing. (I can always sell -- heck, I just moved from a large city to the edge of farm country without a problem and I can move again, if I need to.) The school loans, rash road trips, unplanned jobs and the adventures I've taken weren't in a vaccum -- my current job and interests are a result of trying to answer questions I've had about the world since I was young. I still ask those questions and, on the odd occasions I stumble across answers, I'm invariably led toward more questions.

All the truly "articulate and bursting" youth from whom you are seeking validation don't have answers to your questions. They're too busy trying to find their own way -- which has nothing to do with comparing their experiences to what other generations rebeled against. And if you have to ask if you look like the fuddy-duddies your parents resembled, you already have your answer. Let's all look forward at the same world together and stop obsessing about whose youth was best -- or the most fun. There is little useful to be learned from pitting one generation against others -- that's how the racism, sexism, anti-Semitism and homophobia of the so-called greatest generation stays embedded in our culture. We are on a constant, forced march forward in time -- to focus only on what we thought was great about yesterday makes improving the reality of today harder.

-- Travis Sullivan

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