There is nothing like sitting somewhere with nothing to do and no one to talk to when the person you’re with has plugs in his ears listening to his goddess Paula Abdul. Then it dawned on me, I could pull out my computer and start writing.
Nope, still bored.
Maybe this is why the electronic gadget-imposed isolation happened so rapidly. Everywhere you look, someone is playing electronic Sudoku, or poker, or reading e-books, or texting…does anyone talk to anyone else anymore?
I’m stuffy, I’ll admit. I said a few posts ago how I sounded like an old fart, and realized a few days later that’s because I AM. I’m only 30, but somehow teenagers annoy the crap out of me.
(OMG, he started headbanging. Must not be Paula anymore. Oh, Metallica. *rolls eyes*)
Anyway, teenagers. Most are okay. The ones that bug me are the ones who travel in packs like their survival depends on it, and their self-esteem actually does. The ones who give everyone else dark and threatening looks because you walked into a McDonald’s on a Friday night at 10.30 pm with your spouse, ordered chocolate shakes and fries, and then sat down. Nothing more than that.
Now, granted, the area I was in is generally crawling with Goths. These kids weren’t Goth, because what self-respecting Goth (oxymoron?) would be caught dead (haha, another pun) in McDonald’s of all places. These kids were more punk than anything, and a couple of the most outlandish were the most polite. Their appearance didn’t bother me, but I did decide that I’m planning to avoid places where I see groups of teenagers hanging out. Their vacuous babble and girly giggles make my head hurt.
Why do teens lose IQ points when around other teens? Is this why we send our kids to public school, so they can socialize with others their own age, and forget how to relate to anyone else? Forget relate, just behave politely around others.
Between the constant gadget attached the the hands of the yuppie kids, the murderous looks from the punk kids, and the grumbling and ‘poor me’s’ from the Goths and Emos, our entire societal norms of polite behavior are gone. It’s tough to change my thinking about acceptable behavior. But should I? Which norm should be the acceptable one? I guess it’s not for me to say. Old polite behavior is going by the wayside quickly.
I guess us old fuddy duddys have to learn to accept some of the new norms, but the younger generation should learn to accept some of the old norms as well. We all have to share breathing air, and just because they are the up and coming generation, doesn’t give them the right to dictate. Wait until we’re in nursing homes, at least.
My brother once told me that Madonna should get out of the music biz. Stop making any kind of music whatsoever. Why? Because she’s too old. He was 17 at the time, but that’s no excuse for giving such a crappy reason. I might have understood it more if he’d said he didn’t like her or her music, or some other reason, but only that she’s too old?
This is what I’m talking about. Someone who is older has not outlived their usefulness. The world doesn’t belong only to those 25 and under. The older people are the ones who’ve paved the way for the younger generations to enjoy some of the freedom of expression they take for granted. And where would music be without those who came before paving the way? Madonna broke new ground with her music, like her or not. Just like Chuck Berry, and many others before them.
So this old fart is happy to be an old fart as long as she has other old farts for company. At least the ones who are courteous enough to chat with you instead of burying themselves in their own electronic gadgets.
Wonder what he’s listening to now and if his ears are burning?
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