photo courtest of britishthaiinterlink.com

One of the oldest sayings is that the only thing constant in this universe is change. Every year, people complain about the newest generation. Most of the critique directed towards the newest generation (i.e., Generation X and Y) is that they are too entitled, they have no desire, everything has been given to them, they don’t know the meaning of a dollar and hard work, they are just too misinformed, blah, blah, and cry me a river.

Answer me this. Are we not as a people, a product of our environment and the society that we live in? This is not to say that the only factor in a person’s life is their environment and society, but there are multiple variables that result in why a generation is the way that they are.

Infamous professor of psychology and chief experimenter behind the Stanford Prison Experiments, Dr. Philip Zimbardo, says that we all are influenced by the many environments we are a part of throughout our daily lives and lifehood. We have been a part of institutions since we were first born (e.g., family, school, work, clubs/organization, etc).

To those people who claim that this generation is just not well prepared, I would like to say thanks for doing such a great job in preparing us. We didn’t create this world or choose to be a part of it, but we’re dealing with what has been given to us. And if we’re more fortunate than the last generation, so be it. We will use our resources and continue to make the life better for those in the present and future generations. Isn’t that a reason why we have kids?

Fact of the matter is, times change. Yes, back in the day, our parents used to walk to school. They had one pair of shoes to play basketball and go to church wearing, they ate dirt when they were hungry, they knew how to stretch $1 for two weeks, and all their belongings could fit into a handy sack. But this is the year 2010. We are in a recession, future generations WILL have to pay off our debt and mistakes, we are in the middle of two wars (Afghanistan becoming the longest war in American history since Vietnam), the Gulf region has seen the worst environmental disaster ever, and we have a dysfunctional political system.

On a more micro level, movies today cost $10 (you’ll spend atleast $20 if you want to have a snack and a drink), it’s $40 to fill up your gas tank, and media packages cost an average of $30 per month (i.e., cable, Internet, and multimedia phone charges). This world we live in is not cheap and it never has been. It’s not fair, it’s stressful, and this is the world we have to deal with.

This is a different generation. Fact is, we’re going to do things much differently than the last generation and the cycle will hopefully continue for many years. Politics, religion, and race is seen differently from this generation than from the eyes of our parents and their parents. Just watch the TV and see. Things are not want they used to be. So, don’t jump down our throats because of the world you’ve created for us. Maybe you should take a step back and evaluate what you did to contribute to why we behave and view the world the way we do. We want to be better than the last generation. We don’t want to be worse off and certainly not the same.

The great thing is that we are beginning to see a political constituency that is much more informed than past generations because of the technologies we have become so used to today. I’m tired (and I’m sure others are too) of feeling guilty for having a better life than others. I will feel this way no more. If I’m fortunate, there is a reason for that and I’m going to make the most of a rare opportunity.

At times, things for this country look bleak, but there is always hope in the next generation, particularly this one. For the nay-sayers that believe that there is no hope for this generation, they’re really saying that there is no hope for a future that they had a hand in creating.

Imagine this: A girl eagerly waits, sitting by her telephone, two hours, 15 minutes and 37 seconds after first calling and being told “Hey, can I call you back in five minutes?” She ponders on why the person is taking so long to call back.

Did something really important pop up right as soon as the person was going to dial the number? Was it something I said? Was it something I didn’t say? Maybe they just forgot me? she wonders.

I mean it is entirely possible, the girl thinks to herself, I am pretty forgettable.

It wasn’t like she hadn’t called the person back after 15 minutes of waiting.

She did.

Then she called back 15 minutes after that, 10 minutes after that and then seven minutes after that. She then began calling in seven minute intervals.

“Hi, you have reached …” CLICK!

Don’t want to appear too desperate…

Seven minutes later: “Hi, it’s me, again. I just wanted to see if you were in and if you got my messages. I really need to talk to you. Please, call my back.”

The eight messages were some variation of that.

Still, after numerous phone messages, no answer and no call-back.

Get the hint, girl, they don’t want to call you back!

The girl shakes her head and takes these no responses as a challenge.

What is wrong with you?! Are you desperate?! you must be wondering to yourself about this girl.

Why yes, yes, she is.

All journalists are desperate whenever a source does not call back after promising to do so. While this may be an extreme, many really wish they could just constantly hit the redial over and over and over again.

Like a grade-school girl eagerly waits for a boy she likes to call her on the phone (or, I guess, text her), journalists jump out of their skin whenever their phone rings and they see it is an elusive source they have been trying so desperately to talk to for three days (an eternity for anyone in the news industry).

Why am I blogging about this today? Because, I am that girl.

Instead of sitting on my bed, staring at my cell phone, hoping and praying that I’ll get a call from that special guy, I’m sitting at my desk, staring at my office phone, hoping and praying for that red light to light up!

I hate the waiting game.