The Next Generation

There are a lot of good things that come with age. And a lot of things I could easily live without. Like the stiffness of my muscles every morning, the way my skin is changing in certain parts of my body and the knowledge that this will only get worse from here, how bad of an experience jet lag or long distance flights have become, and the worst: having to deal with the next generation.

I'm pretty sure that every generation has felt this way and we all have had confrontations with previous generations caused by very different views, opinions, likes, and dislikes, and different environments. I mean, how can someone like me who grew up in a peaceful, secure, and wealthy country relate to my parents who were born in World War II? My mother still woke up shaking every time the fire alarm sirens went off.  I'm always amazed by people who bridge that gap easily but they're usually the minority. I have been wondering why I am so impatient and a a particular type of person makes me angry so easily. Especially here in the Bay Area. People seem to think that because they're paying an ridiculous amount of rent or bought a shitty place for 10 times its actual value or have a big, ecologically friendly car with a t-shaped logo, that they're entitled to ignore most traffic rules, keep their neighbors from sleeping with loud parties on school nights, walk on the sidewalk without looking up and expect others to jump out of their way, or park their cars that are too big for their garage on the sidewalk.

I've tried a few approaches to deal with my anger and annoyance. The latest one while I was at work. With all these young software engineers running around. Unless, they're in front of you in the cafeteria line or blocking your way when you're late for a meeting. Then they're like sloths. Anyway, I got a little annoyed by a few of them, once again. Most likely because they were looking at their phones while walking towards me so I had to step or jump aside to avoid them bumping in to me. Or they picked noodles on their plate at the cafeteria, one by one... So I tried to imagine that all of them were puppies. Cute, fluffy, clumsy puppies. Running around on their big paws, tumbling over, peeing everywhere, but being very cute at the same time. So you can't get angry at them whatever they do. And it did work. I got calmer and understanding and I was able to accept all the things that had annoyed me till then as part of who they were. The one thing I still have to work on, though, is to keep my self from saying "Auuu", all the time when I see some particularly clumsy ones.