1996_11 Insight November 1996

              VIEWPOINT
NOVEMBER 13, 1996 I
A
nother brick in the wall
The world is not what it used to be.
And Generation X isn't to blame. So back off.
by Elaina Conroy
Staff Writer
1 HAVE FOND MEMORIES of
driving on deserted roads with my mom
when I was young. Riding along in
mom's 1980 blue Honda Civic,
cramped but comfortable, we could shut
out the rest of the world as we cranked
up the tunes. *
Pink Floyd's "Another Brick in the
Wall" was our favorite song.
Whenever it came on the radio, we
were transported into another realm
where the outer world was inconsequential.
"We don't need no education. We
don't need no thought control," we'd
belt out together as we cruised along the
Interstate.
Insight
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Q
My mom and Andy Gibb were my
biggest heroes in the world.
I loved taking road trips with her,
.especially when we talked to pass the
time. She would often talk about her
childhood. She told me how much she
resented having to help her mom clean
the house while her four brothers went
out and played.
M
Y MOM NEVER CEASED to
remind me how lucky I was to be
growing up in a new age. not in the
1950s like her.
She saifj that there were endless
opportunities available to me that she
never had.
When my mom
was a little girl, she
had to wear skirts tc
school and hoola
hoops were the
latest fad. She saw
the aftermath of
President
Kennedy's assassination on TV and
fell in love with
Elvis.
In high school,
she protested
against the Vietnam
War, experimented
with hallucinogens
and found free-love
at Woodstock.
She looked up to
rockers like Jimi
Hendrix and Janis,
Joplin, only to say
good-bye to them
later when they
overdosed.
I. on the other hand, grew up with
Atari and The Brady Bunch. MTV
invaded the nation and Madonna was
the biggest thing ever. Hot pink and
acid-washed jeans were cool and
Michael Jackson graced us with the
Moonwalk.
My mom and I are 20 years apart.
She's a product of the Baby Boomer
generation, born circa 1955. 1 was born
in 1975, and along with 75 million
other Americans born between I960
and 1980,1 bear the stigma: Generation
X.
O
World Wars, the Vietnam War and
Woodstock, our generation has no
group identity. Basically, all of those
historical events thrown in a blender
make up what we are, the 13th generation to call ourselves Americans.
Society has given us the label Generation X, which is equivalent to
unknown, like the variable x used in
math class.
The older generations say that they
don't know what we are. And most of
the younger generation, whom this
name is supposed to define, resent its
ambiguity and lack of value.
Although most of us dislike referring
to ourselves as Generation X, we are
U.
NLIKE OTHER GENERATIONS that are defined by historical
events like the Great Depression, the
constantly under scrutiny and attack by
the older generations and the media.
We've been given a number of
negative titles, such as: "A generation
of animals" (Washington Post); "The
numb generation" (The New York
Times); and "The tuned-out generation" (Time). And that's just to name a
few.
My question is, who are they to
criticize us?
In his book, "The Gen X Reader,"
Douglas Rushkoff explains how we are
perceived: "Most outside of Generation
X condemn the twentysomethings as
illiterate, unmotivated, and apathetic
couch potatoes.
"We appear to have no career goals,
no cultural pride, no political ideology.
no family values, and no discernible
ambitions. We're the kids who lived off
the mall, McDonald's and MTV."
The fact is that more than any preceding generation, we're the combined
product of our times and those who
came before us.
And since we are the fruit, so to
speak, produced from the trees of older
generations, aren't they actually criticizing themselves when they complain
about the insufficiencies of Generation
X?
Contrary to popular belief, we are not
the downfall of Western Civilization.
We are simply trying to battle the
obstacles offered by this chaotic world.
We are not malcontents or misfits. We
have goals and
aspirations, but first
we have to find our
place in society.
And that's not as
easy as it used to
be.
The 1960s. 1970s
and 1980s, the
years in which we
were born and
raised, saw unprecedented upheavals
in the economic,
political and social
environments.
That is not to say
wc are ungrateful
for the hard-won
battles of our
predecessors: Civil
rights emerged in
the 1960s,
women's rights in
the 1970s and thc
1980s saw the end
of The Cold War.
But with these benefits came side-
effects. Nuclear waste pollutes the
earth. Sex that was once celebrated in
the Sexual Revolution has now become
deadly. Poverty is afflicting more
children. Kids are having kids. And the
national debt has gone through the roof.
The cost of higher education has
skyrocketed, out of reach for many.
The prospects for jobs and making a
good living are dismal. The American
Dream of owning a nice house with a
two-car garage and having a perfect
family is slipping away. For most of us,
the chances that we will surpass our
parents' standards of living seem slim.
This is our world.
We never asked for this legacy, bul like
each generation before, it was passed on
to us. The problem is we are constantly
in the shadow of thc Baby Boomers.
They had social and political exploits in
the 1960s, desire for self-fulfillment in
the 1970s and quests for materialistic
gain in the 1980s.
We are the products of this infamous
generation and up until now we didn't
really get all that much attention. Now.
wc are being put down by the people
who created the chaos.
Each generation perceives itself as
the best. Each new generation is
criticized and compared to the previous
generation. Our parents were scrutinized by their parents. And so it's only
fair that we are put under the microscope to be examined as well. But
nearly one American out of every three
is a member of Generation X.
Regardless of what
some people think, we will run the
country one day. Keeping that in mind,
maybe the previous generations should
have a little more faith in us. We might
have more faith in ourselves if we were
actually given a real name instead of a
meaningless letter.
Geoffrey T Holtz, author of "Welcome to the Jungic — Thc Why
Behind 'Generation X,'" suggests that
the "Free Generation" should be our
title. We are "free" in the sense of
liberated or emancipated.  We have
grown up in a world that offers more
choices than have ever been available.
With the breakdown of many gender-
based traditions and radical stereotypes, we enjoy a much broader range
of lifestyle and career choices than any
generation which preceded us."
We are free to choose our own course
of action and our time has come. We
want to learn. We want to work. We
want to succeed. Yes, there are some
losers and slackers who are members
of my generation, but each generation
has its share of underachievers. They
are the minority.
The funny thing is that my mom has
always had faith in me. There was
never a question that I would go to
college. And she never hesitates when
telling me what a success I'm going to
be. Oftentimes, she has more faith in
me than I do in myself. Sometimes, I
wish the rest of her generation could
have such an outlook. It is our future,
after all. Ours and theirs.
Arid we'll be behind the wheel.
Opinion
Sweepstakes' sweet promise of $10 million
trashed along with other junk mail
■ Mail offers claim to
make average
consumer rich
by Bala Balachandran
Staff Writer
"B. Balachandran you have won
$ 10 million," the bright pink envelope
screams out.
I should have got excited and
maybe even danced for joy. But I
didn't get excited and I didn't dance
for joy. In fact, I had a hearty laugh.
The bright pink envelope was a
sweepstakes notice.
Day after day, I continue to receive
hundreds of sweepstakes. Some of
them are so downright ridiculous, it
isn't even funny anymore.
I seem to be on the mailing list of
every sweepstakes organization in the
country. The Cancer Society,
Northshorc Animal League, Paralyzed Veterans of America, you name
it and my name is on their list-
Now that I think of myself as a
sweepstakes connoisseur. I can safely
say there are three kinds of sweepstakes.
Prize money for purchase
One is the company sweepstakes,
die kind that sends you a notice with
a catalog or brochure. These companies use sweepstakes as a cover to sell
their product. They say, 'you buy my
product and I will send you money."
The only problem here is once you
buy the product, you never sec the
prize money they promised you. Also,
they don't stop sending you the catalogs.
A company called CVP sends me
notices saying that I have won big
bucks. But in order to claim the bucks,
they tell me that I have to order at least
two items. They also send me a catalog of products so cheap, it makes
Wal-Mart look like Macy's.
Another company sends me notices
saying that I have woo $250, but I can
only redeem it to buy their products.
Of course tbe products are all $450
and above. The rest would go from
my own pocket.
I have always held Readers Digest
in high esteem. Which is why I felt
let down when I received a sweepstakes mailing from them. They sent
me two keys. An attached letter said
if I had the winning number, a security personnel would be sent to my
residence with the money. The keys
were to open the security box. The
mailing also contained special offers
to subscribe to Readers Digest.
Playing with emotions
Other sweepstakes usually plead
for a cause. They subtly play on your
guilt about not doing anything worthwhile. They request you to send anything. "Even a dollar goes a long
way," they say.
These sweepstakes companies usually enclose name labels or some
other small gift They also contain
very heart warming pictures, the kind
that would move you to tears, and
make you open your wallet
There is also one other kind of
sweepstakes. These sweepstakes are
either some kind of a joke or the
people who send them out seriously
think you are a fool.
One sweepstakes in this caiegory
seems to pop up in my mailbox every
week. It informs me that I have already won a big prize and I can claim
it if I can spot word combinations like
'rich'and 'happy.'
Sounds challenging right? Not really. There is one line of mixed up alphabets. Smack in the center of the
line are the two words. Even a 3 year
old can spot the words in 2 seconds.
Free, but only with purchase
In addition, they want me to send
the company $15 for processing my
form. Of course the amoufiTkceps
changing every week. I don't know
about you but I would prefer to spend
that money elsewhere.
My favorite sweepstakes has to be
the Harlequin romance sweepstakes.
They sent me a prize notice. A week
later I actually received a check. I
opened the envelope with skepticism.
I found a check all right, for 31 cents.
Thirty-one cents doesn't even cover
the postage cost. So much for the
prize money.
My friends ask me why I waste
lime reading every one of them.
Somebody has to read them
Well, firstly because they make for
good entertainment. I always get a
kick out of reading them.
Secondly, because the people who
mail them spent so much time and
effort on it, I feel I owe them.
Also, it is a good indication of how
good or bad your eyesight is. Anybody who has ever attempted to read
the fine print would vouch for that. It
is quite a struggle. Obviously, they deliberately make it so hard to read.
And last but not the least there is
this hope in me that refuses to die.
that maybe someday I shall come
across a real sensible sweepstakes.
Who knows someday security personnel might actually land on my
doorstep and say "B. Balachandran
you have woo $10 million.*'