Filterd to Autumn, Roxy, Timothy, Spectre, Chiara, Peter, Flynn and Quinn
I didn't write a column this week as such. But London College did get me to thinking. And I had things I wanted to say without necessarily referencing it at all. Of course, my publisher wouldn't print it, so it's going on tomorrow's opinion page. Which means I can show you it now. I hope it makes sense...
When I think about my childhood, the things I remember seem so simple. I'm not yet out of my 20s, but things change so quickly these days that I sometimes feel quite old, especially when sitting in a room with my students. And when I cast my mind back, the things I remember seem like a genre film from the 80's. Running through the sprinkler in the backyard before, inevitably, turning it on my sister to make her make that deliciously repellent screeching noise she is so very adept at. I remember when my father bought us a computer and we were so impressed because it had about five colours. Green, black, white, purple and this incredibly weak shade of aqua that hardly counts as blue. I remember the day we got a VCR. That was big news at my house. The neighbors came to see. I remember Chanukah with my grandmother and my mother before they both passed away. I still think of them every year. How they radiated such peace and wisdom, and how I venerated them.
When I think of what today's kids are going to look back on, I become both amused, inspired, and depressed all at once. It's funny how something like the internet can bring people together over vast amounts of space, but keep a person from their own family. Today's youth are going to look back and say things like, 'remember when a computer could only hold 500 gig?! Remember the 160 gig iPod? How big it used to be? Hah!' They'll remember opting to stay inside and watch DVDs instead of hanging their neighbour from the clothesline (yes, personal experience) or climbing a tree and getting stuck in it for hours while a younger mate sits on the ground under a tree and taunts them by eating their lunch. It was more fun than it sounds, really.
Today is an age of instant gratification. We can't blame that on the young. Things are available to them that just weren't when I was a child. I'm sure I seemed the very same way to the adults in my life. Impatient and irascible. Gone are the days where it is required to leave the house to shop. You can do everything from a computer if you really want to. And in far more than five colours. Hell, you can even have sex online. Why take the time to get to know someone? Why waste time in the car to go shopping? Gone are the days of the card catalouge in the library. I still miss that gorgeous oak cabinet upon every visit, though I do still mourn the lost hours of my youth spent learning the now superfluous Dewey Decimal system.
What does all this mean? We've been taught that this 'instant gratification' will make us happy. The people in the advertisements always look fulfilled because they got their hands on a Wii. If only we had that new Saab, then we'd be complete. See the people smiling on the telly, that's because they ate at Romero's Cafe in Chelsea. And what happens afterwards? After we finally get our mitts all over a Wii or a Saab or...Romero? There's an empty feeling inside that tells us there's still something missing. It must just be an upgrade. That's it. It just has to be, right?
Life is full of highs and lows. That used to be accepted and even expected. But now all that people expect are the highs. Life is marketed to us. It's supposed to be perfect, isn't it? Are we manufacturing and advertising a culture that is destined to remain unfulfilled? What happens when that emptiness takes over? When there seems to be no way out. Lows aren't normal, right? The people in the ads aren't ever sad or lonely. And just what if we're the only person in the world feeling that way?
Well...you aren't. The ads lie. Everyone feels the same way. The lows are what make life's little highs so damn good. They're what makes it possible to appreciate spending time with the people you love, or reading a book you can't tear yourself away from. Getting a kiss from someone you can't get enough of. Chanukah, or what have you, with your family or your friends. And no matter how horrible the bad times seem, they end. People used to know that. It's something we, as a society, need to re-learn. When things seem bleak, people give up. Suicide and homicide rates skyrocket because there's no off switch to depression. You can't save your life and return to it later. And you can't change the channel. You get through it. People have been doing it for centuries.
I almost miss the days of simplicity, though I am sure life was complex in other ways back then. I miss the sprinkler and the tree climbing. I miss having a Popsicle melt all down my front because I refused to eat it inside. I miss that awe at the five-coloured computer. And yes...even the Dewey Decimal system in small quantities. I hope today's youth don't look back on their childhoods, discouraged. And I hope that somehow, they learn that life isn't perfect. It isn't downloadable for a subscription and once you end it, you can't exchange it. There are no refunds. No cash back guarantees. Life isn't a vacation in the Bahamas or a cruise to Hawaii with vaguely smiling strangers in brightly coloured caftans. It isn't bliss.
It just is.
When I think about my childhood, the things I remember seem so simple. I'm not yet out of my 20s, but things change so quickly these days that I sometimes feel quite old, especially when sitting in a room with my students. And when I cast my mind back, the things I remember seem like a genre film from the 80's. Running through the sprinkler in the backyard before, inevitably, turning it on my sister to make her make that deliciously repellent screeching noise she is so very adept at. I remember when my father bought us a computer and we were so impressed because it had about five colours. Green, black, white, purple and this incredibly weak shade of aqua that hardly counts as blue. I remember the day we got a VCR. That was big news at my house. The neighbors came to see. I remember Chanukah with my grandmother and my mother before they both passed away. I still think of them every year. How they radiated such peace and wisdom, and how I venerated them.
When I think of what today's kids are going to look back on, I become both amused, inspired, and depressed all at once. It's funny how something like the internet can bring people together over vast amounts of space, but keep a person from their own family. Today's youth are going to look back and say things like, 'remember when a computer could only hold 500 gig?! Remember the 160 gig iPod? How big it used to be? Hah!' They'll remember opting to stay inside and watch DVDs instead of hanging their neighbour from the clothesline (yes, personal experience) or climbing a tree and getting stuck in it for hours while a younger mate sits on the ground under a tree and taunts them by eating their lunch. It was more fun than it sounds, really.
Today is an age of instant gratification. We can't blame that on the young. Things are available to them that just weren't when I was a child. I'm sure I seemed the very same way to the adults in my life. Impatient and irascible. Gone are the days where it is required to leave the house to shop. You can do everything from a computer if you really want to. And in far more than five colours. Hell, you can even have sex online. Why take the time to get to know someone? Why waste time in the car to go shopping? Gone are the days of the card catalouge in the library. I still miss that gorgeous oak cabinet upon every visit, though I do still mourn the lost hours of my youth spent learning the now superfluous Dewey Decimal system.
What does all this mean? We've been taught that this 'instant gratification' will make us happy. The people in the advertisements always look fulfilled because they got their hands on a Wii. If only we had that new Saab, then we'd be complete. See the people smiling on the telly, that's because they ate at Romero's Cafe in Chelsea. And what happens afterwards? After we finally get our mitts all over a Wii or a Saab or...Romero? There's an empty feeling inside that tells us there's still something missing. It must just be an upgrade. That's it. It just has to be, right?
Life is full of highs and lows. That used to be accepted and even expected. But now all that people expect are the highs. Life is marketed to us. It's supposed to be perfect, isn't it? Are we manufacturing and advertising a culture that is destined to remain unfulfilled? What happens when that emptiness takes over? When there seems to be no way out. Lows aren't normal, right? The people in the ads aren't ever sad or lonely. And just what if we're the only person in the world feeling that way?
Well...you aren't. The ads lie. Everyone feels the same way. The lows are what make life's little highs so damn good. They're what makes it possible to appreciate spending time with the people you love, or reading a book you can't tear yourself away from. Getting a kiss from someone you can't get enough of. Chanukah, or what have you, with your family or your friends. And no matter how horrible the bad times seem, they end. People used to know that. It's something we, as a society, need to re-learn. When things seem bleak, people give up. Suicide and homicide rates skyrocket because there's no off switch to depression. You can't save your life and return to it later. And you can't change the channel. You get through it. People have been doing it for centuries.
I almost miss the days of simplicity, though I am sure life was complex in other ways back then. I miss the sprinkler and the tree climbing. I miss having a Popsicle melt all down my front because I refused to eat it inside. I miss that awe at the five-coloured computer. And yes...even the Dewey Decimal system in small quantities. I hope today's youth don't look back on their childhoods, discouraged. And I hope that somehow, they learn that life isn't perfect. It isn't downloadable for a subscription and once you end it, you can't exchange it. There are no refunds. No cash back guarantees. Life isn't a vacation in the Bahamas or a cruise to Hawaii with vaguely smiling strangers in brightly coloured caftans. It isn't bliss.
It just is.