By JESSICA SELLS
April 2, 2006

My generation.

We live day-to-day, moment-to-moment, seeking temporary pleasures and often worrying about what we have no control over.

I am not attempting to criticize anyone; these are behaviors I see in myself. Still, it bothers me that my generation seems mostly satisfied to live passively, watching television or playing Xbox.

Indeed, when we do become active, how constructive are we? How do we interact with others? Primarily by gossiping (it seems). Maybe somewhere along the way the message got mixed up . . . but how is it that the first thing we talk about with our friends is gossip? Why is it that when someone says “How are you,” the automatic response is simply “good”? When did we stop caring about other people? When did we stop asking “How are you?” and really mean it? Or stop answering “Things are a little tough right now . . . but how about you?”

It drives me INSANE that common courtesy is so far out the door. Burp in public? Sure, why not? Everyone else does. Cuss in front of small children at the store? They’re not your kids, why not? Cheat on a test. Hey, it’s not like anyone else studied . . . !

Maybe it’s not just my generation. Maybe growing up in my grandparents’ house and hearing about “the way things were” just makes me blind to the fact that every generation has its problems. But I don’t think I’m truly blind. I think it is possible that we have never learned basic civility. Not for lack of trying on our parents’ part, but simply because we never took to it. And perhaps no one made us.

Who are we really afraid of these days? My grandpa grew up in a foster home and was forced to go to Catholic school. He was scared out of his wits by the nuns! My grandma also grew up in a foster home where she was scared of her Baptist “brimstone and fire” preacher. My mom was scared to make less than an A for fear of not being “good enough.” (Good enough for what, I’m still not sure.)

What am I scared of? What does my generation fear? We’ve learned that with enough money and power, we can pretty much get away with murder. We’ve come to accept technology as the new god. We watch reality television and call it entertainment. When our generation is asked what their favorite book is, or who their favorite author is, a blank look comes over the face and the standard response seems to be “I don’t read . . . it’s boring.”

BORING? I have never understood that. I would read all day and night if I could! That’s cool, though. Reading isn’t your thing? So, what do you do? “I love Laguna Beach” (or American Idol or whatever else is being passed off as entertainment). Checkout lines at the stores don’t even have regular magazines anymore! Go to Wal-Mart, wait in a 15-minute line and your only choice for reading material is gossip rags. Or you can be like all the “cool” people and talk on your cell phone ten times louder than is truly necessary (God forbid that perfect stranger 10 people behind you in line actually misses a word of your conversation!)

Maybe part of the problem is that parents want too much for their children. They want their children to have everything and more than every other child. That boggles my mind. Why should I care if little Andy has more Xbox games than little Joey down the street? Why can’t he and Joey just share their games?

Maybe I should stop caring about the fact that our generation seems to care more about getting drunk and hooking up than about our future. (For reference, check out some of the groups on Facebook -- e.g., “My alcohol level is higher than my GPA” and the like. They aren’t just at the Abbey; these types of groups are everywhere.)

Maybe I should be thankful that there don’t seem to be many young adults looking at Points B, C and D. Rather, everyone seems to think that Point A goes directly to Point E. Maybe I really should just leave the issue alone.

But then, that’s what would be expected of me.