Spontaneous Birthings
Tuesday, July 18, 2006
Generation Lazy
In the continuum of generations, I float somewhere between Generation X and Generation Y. Born in 1980, but having arrived in the United States in 1985, I quickly immersed into a culture of Sunday morning cartoons, VH1 and MTV videos, and in due time, the world wide web. I'm like the Older sister in the Generation Y of web-heads. When I was 7 or 8, I played with dolls, and did strange things that only kids would find fun - like collect all the acorns on the front lawn simply for the sake of...who knows what. I created things by hand - lego houses, battery-operated machines that had wheels or plastic buoy-type things that would make them brrrrrrr in the bathtub. And I (gasp) read a lot.When my parents got Internet, somewhere between 1990 - 1992, I didn't understand what it was. Back then it was a grown-up thing. I didn't know what was grown-up about it, but I just knew it wasn't for kids. For my report on leaves, and the different species of bear (2 very important subjects for a 4th and 5th grader), I used the encyclopedia for information and content. There was no Wikipedia then.
For a true Generation Y-er, the encyclopedia is obsolete and has been replaced by a shiny Mac or PC screen and the numerous (and often invaluable) websites that contain the keyword of choice. Wikipedia offers alternative names for the post-Generation X-ers - the Net Generation or the Google Generation. I have definitely gained quick membership to the Google Generation (google is now part of our everyday vernacular, but that is a whole new discussion), but would not want to be identified as such. It sounds slothful, mindless, and completely uninterested about what's actually happening in the world.
All that being said, regardless if I'm more Generation X or Generation Y, I am reminded that I do belong to a group of twenty-somethings perhaps more aptly named Generation Lazy. Call us web-savy; call us the Google Generation; call us the Now Generation; call us the Generation of Me's; call us I-pod Crazies. The fact is simple. My generation is definitely more lazy than that of my parents. We want things when we want them, without doing anything (but to click buttons), and we want it now.
I like to think I'm not that bad. I am a hard worker. I pay my bills. I still read (gasp) books. But I am an avid googler, and I am quickly reminded of whose generation I belong.
True story:
Every morning, I come into my office, turn on my computer, then fill my Starbucks coffee mug with 1 cup French Roast and 1 cup Hazlenut decaf, return to my desk and start the day.
True conversation:
Me, to a coworker: "Good morning."
Coworker: "Oh you can go first. I know it takes you a while to fill your mug." Emphasis on "your".
Me: "I don't have it this morning. It's sitting at home in the dishwasher. I'll have to come back for my 2nd cup." I say it in a tone that's very close to complaining.
Coworker: "You know, Kristen. You can wash it by hand." I look at her. "I'm serious." I continue to look at her. Then it hits me.
Me: "Oh!" I say, "I didn't even think of that!"
If my brain automatically associates dishwashing by my inserting dishes into a dishwasher, then I shamefully admit that I am part of Generation Lazy.
At least I wash my pots and pans - what's now, the old fashioned way.
kristen at 9:45 AM
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