Like my folks, I can't understand how these kids come to like some of this stuff.
Don't you know? An adolescent's calling in life is to bother his elders by differentiating himself from them by appearance, style, language, etc. All part of establishing an identity, a me that is autonomous and separate. The process has been going on ever since humanoids began to walk on legs.
Every generation does it differently. We did it innocently enough with love beads, rock 'n roll, some mostly soft drugs, liberal politics, etc. The present generation is a bit more outre. Tattoos, piercings, harder drugs, an even wilder look, etc. In other words, we set the stage for their rebellion, which was inevitably bound to be more harrowing, by what we did.
The tough question is this: What will the children of today's youth do to bug their parents? Amputations? Suicide? What will there be left to do to outrage the old guys? |
