I'm about to post a ridiculously long post! It's actually an essay I wrote for my English class, that I think has some good ideas, and I would like to share with you, my darling readers! I will make up for my wordiness with plenty of adorable animals soon enough!
“When I was your age, we didn’t have computers. We didn’t have cars. We didn’t have buses. When I was your age, I walked up hill both ways to get to school and wrote novels by hand.” We’ve all heard it. Our generation has it so much easier than the previous; and I fully agree. I also believe that there is a reason behind it: we have our elder’s experiences to expand upon, and improve for ourselves. They say everyone has something valuable to offer, and the same goes for generations.
Stories are a huge part of my childhood memories of my grandparents. When I was little, I used to sit on my grandma’s balcony with her, and listen to tales of her adventures growing up. In return I would comb her hair and give her an eager audience. I remember one story in particular. It was a story of the day she found a dead horse that exploded all over her when she poked it with a stick. I learned a valuable lesson that day: don’t poke dead things with sticks. Obviously that’s something I would have figured out on my own, but there are other things in life that you don’t figure out on your own, things you need guidance for; and that’s what I believe is passed down from older generations in our society: Wisdom and experience.
I pronounced to my mother a while ago that, while I love her dearly, and she is a wonderful cook: she can’t handle work, cooking and everything else. I, on the other hand, have nothing to do during that slot of time between school and supper; therefore I would take on the task of making dinner. She accepted the offer, and the next day we set out teaching me the way around a kitchen. The first night she sat there with me, giving me step by step instructions on how to properly cook chicken, boil vegetables, and mash potatoes (needless to say, I was quite the cooking rookie). The next night she took me to the grocery store, and helped me do the shopping for that day’s meal. When we got home, however, she didn’t walk me through, step by step; she instead gave me directions at the beginning and then left to do her own thing. I realized that she was letting me go little by little, but I can still count on her for her expert opinion, her experience.
This same mother of mine—the one who taught me to walk and talk, and now cook and clean—has a blog. I too, have a blog. My mum, unlike myself, did not grow up around computers, and likes to call everything that has anything to do with a computer ‘the matrix’. I get a lot of summons along the lines of, “Elizabeth could you come here and fix the internet?” or “Elizabeth could you download [because in the land of the not so “technoliterate”, the direction of loading is inconsequential] these pictures onto my computer?” This is, however, a long way to come from where she was a few years ago. I know that the example of computers, and the internet is fairly specific to my generation; but isn’t it true that every younger generation there have been new technologies to introduce? For instance: my parents had to teach their parents about tapes; my grandparents most likely showed their parents the ways of the record player; even Thomas Eddison probably had to say to his father “Dad, come on! The switch goes up when you want it light, and down when you want it dark!” maybe even Grog had to say “No. Wheel go up and down. Not side to side. No roll if side to side”.
This morning I ate my breakfast to the melodious tones of Brahms. I then went back to my room and turned on Christina Aguilera. This in itself is an example of what younger generations have to offer. We have our new, innovative things; like electronic music, hybrid cars, and toaster strudel.
Fifteen years ago, my dad applied for a job in administration. At this time he had one of his ears pierced, so he took the earring out for the interview, and when he got the job, he left it out. Presently he is working as the CEO of a fairly major organization, and has two sets of earrings. How might this be? Over the past decade teenagers have been getting more and more piercings, and passing the trend back up to our parents. So it’s thanks to my generation’s rebellion toward social that allows people like my father to continue doing their job just as effectively as they would without pieces of metal in their ears. It’s not just my generation that rebelled and got more freedom for generations to come. I would like to thank the women of the 1950s for making it acceptable for girls to wear pants—my love for putting my feet on desks has been made possible by you. Also, to the “Famous Five”—bringers of women’s rights to Canada—thank you. Rebellion is the basis of change; and I’m pretty sure it’s not our grandparents going out and protesting the laws we make.
The world would be a fairly boring place without younger generation’s innovation—you really can only play with rocks for so long before you get bored—but it would also be extremely difficult to learn from mistakes if there was no one around to tell you about them! So be it stories, rebellion or toaster strudel, every generation has something to contribute to our society.
