I don't judge folks on what they wear, how much money they make, or what they think about life as long as they are honest with themselves and have their own thoughts. We all have flaws. What I do judge people on are their actions, especially how they act when they truly believe that no one is paying attention to them.
I stopped at a local gas station and leaned against my car while my car filled up, and just looked around people watching as I always do. Some kid about mid 20's comes out of the convenience store part and apparently went in to get an item while his car filled up over on the next island. I watched him saunter out of the store, throw a piece of paper half ass at the outside garbage can and miss the can completely. I watched him observe the piece of paper fall next to the can, and he looked at it, and proceeded to put the pump away, and get into his car without any attempt at picking up the piece of paper. I watched then as he sat in his seat and lit a cigarette (apparently the item he bought) and then threw the smoldering match(yes match) out onto the cement where of course gas fumes, and Diesel fuel residue reside. he then turned on his car, and proceeded to blast some God awful "music"(Term I use loosely) at unbearable volume, as he apparently had a whole surround sound system in his car that was equivalent to the ones they use in today's movie theaters. And then he drove off, spinning his wheels in the process, as if he owned everything around him. As I went to go pick up the piece of paper that would've taken him all of a second to pick up, I thought about the amount of complete lack of caring about anything but himself that just occurred, and unfortunately how the ratio of these people is increasing dramatically.
Because we as Americans have everything, and I mean everything ready at our fingertips, it is so easy to be self absorbed especially the young people who are growing up knowing only that particular aspect of "Life On Demand" Now people have every aspect of technology and information ready and accessible so much that the rest of the world and the critical thinking that is needed to figure out your place within it, is being lost. People become so wrapped up in whatever information they need that pertains to them, and only them, that they become selfish, and totally oblivious to how they are impacted, and just how they impact. Just a piece of paper that the kid missed? Yes, but there is a bigger picture. all of the actions that I observed in that 45 second window of watching this kid tell me that he cares about absolutely no one. He has deemed himself in his mind as center of the universe, and anyone else doesn't matter. Driving out of there with his music blasting beyond any decent volume, he did not care that someone else had to pick up his garbage. He did not care that the smoldering match could have ignited a minor mushroom cloud at the gas station. he did not care that no one wanted to know just what music he was listening to. So in my mind as I picture this kid going about his life and daily journeys I picture him as being a tremendous problem, as he cares not what kind of wake he leaves, or the consequences of minor or major actions, because in his mind, it is all about him.
That is what is being created right now, as this country becomes more dependent upon results "on demand", and patience and thought of life beyond that which one inhabits goes right out the window. I know that I sound like every generation before, where each generation starts off a rant of their children with "Ya know kids today...." But this applies even more so now. There are individuals within the "On Demand" generation who are more selfish, more impatient, more rude, more disrespectful of everything around them than most of some generations put together. It all comes down to what society subliminally puts within the minds of a particular generation, and what is put in these minds is money, fashion, material things such as the latest cell phones, and the no attention span dynamics of existence. You would think with the access to historical archives on the internet, that this would be the most historically aware generation ever, but no. Their needs for information are fluff, and the rate with which they turn from focusing on one thing to another is akin to just changing channels in the TV of their minds. You would think that this generation would know more about the world, its geography, the people and actions going on than any generation in history. But they can't even point out Japan on a map. With all of the crap around them, they are still bored and unmotivated to explore themselves or examine how the world of nature works around them. Everything is thought for them, and nothing is a consequence.
Do I mean everyone from this "On Demand" generation? No. I am not blanketing, but I do see a common thread evolving from this crop of American kids. "Me, Me What about me, and my needs, and enough about me, let's talk some more about me.." Now there are quite a few kids that care about others, about the environment, about their and others' impact upon the world, but this kid at the gas station is slowly taking over. The selfish, unaware, and uncaring kid that will grow up to be the most obnoxious whining adult, who will make problems up to bitch about. I am usually very positive in my writing, but I believe in telling what I see. And when I went to pick up this kid's garbage and put it in the trash for him, I was pissed. Because for him, this is just the beginning of people cleaning up after him and his mess, and it is just the beginning of him not caring. And the more he doesn't care, the better at not caring he will become, and the less things that pertain to the lives of others matter to him, until his life becomes just one big vacuum of what he can get for himself, and how others don't matter.
No one kid defines a generation, but this just made me look closer at what I've already seen taking place. That one instant just made clearer to me the common denominators of just what kind of individuals will be running this joint in years to come. That is what we are headed for within this "On Demand" generation, and if you are young and reading this, and not one of those kids, then you have a very tough road ahead of you, because unlike the message in The Bible, the way it works now is that the selfish inherit the earth. The rest of us are there to listen to them complain.
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