Re: BANANAFISH digest 251
Jessica Lynn Becker (beckerj@uwec.edu)
Tue, 24 Feb 1998 01:16:49 -0600
Shame, shame Scottie! Malcolm doesn't need a CAT Scan...Malcolm made a
brilliant set of points. Bravo!
Same for ecas...I thought my sleep-deprived brain could do nothing more
than watch the words scroll by, but here you two made me think!
I don't know if you could call me Generation X or Generation Zero. I was
born two weeks before the end of the '70s, but no matter what Generation
you label me I have all the same problems as every Generation that has come
before me or that will come after me. The drugs, the violence, the
dysfunctional families. It was in every generation, it's just that as the
years go by society sees less need to hide these situations. Many see it
as society's failure...I think that they (the older generations) forget
that many of these things were prevelant when they were our age and that
all you have to do is draw parallels to see the similarities. In the 20s
it was alcohol, in the 60s it was marijuana and LSD, and in the 90s it's
crack (among other things).
Mr. Godot claims that all of "Generation Zero" is wallowing in their
self-pity and waiting for the end. I disagree. Yes, many of us are
disillusioned....I will not say that I haven't wanted to die before either,
but I chose to do something about it. I am in my second semester of
college, and I started out last fall at a mere 17 years of age. I had a
bad first semester, but now I do all of my homework and try to get up in
the morning rather than sleep through all of my classes. Rather than feel
sorry for myself or blow my brains out I chose to go to counseling and take
medication....everyone has that choice in front of them.
To label people by comparing them to their peers is wrong. That's like
saying all of the 30 and 40 year olds on this list are greedy yuppies that
drive minivans and live in a cute suburban house behind a white picket
fence. We are individuals. There are a lot of people my age who are
disillusioned and choose to give up rather than fight against their
circumstances...had I chosen that route I'd be dead. Instead I am working
part-time, going to school full-time, and trying to make something of
myself. I will suceed not because my parents push me to or because I was
born to acheive, but rather because I want to accomplish something. Let me
grow up into the middle aged yuppie with the minivan and the
suburban-picket fence house. Even if I am not famous and my name isn't
known all over the world I will know that I have been a success. Those
people who think that success has to be on a grandiose scale are only
setting themselves up for disappointment.
Rambling again,
Jessica =)