A Gen-X Apology

Over at Salon.com was this article, An open apology to boomers everywhere by Heather Havrilesky. She subtitled it- Your earnest, self-important prattle has gotten on Gen X nerves for decades. But now we finally get it. In many ways her commentary on the cynicism of the Gen-X years echoes was many Boomers felt as well. Here's a portion of it...

But when we watched Barack Obama's victory speech on Tuesday night, we looked into the eyes of a real leader, and decades of cynicism about politics and grass-roots movements and community melted away in a single moment. We heard the voice of a man who can inspire with his words, who's unashamed of his own intelligence, who's willing to treat the citizens of this country like smart, capable people, worthy of respect. For the first time in some of our lifetimes, we believed.

Suddenly it makes sense, what you've been trying to tell us about John F. Kennedy and Martin Luther King Jr. Sure, we knew all about their roles in history, we'd learned about them in a million classes, through countless books and documentaries. Eventually, though, the endless memorials and tributes and TV specials and Oliver Stone films grew a little tedious. We didn't quite understand why you've never let those two go, why you'd speak so relentlessly about a better time.

But how could we have known? We were raised under Ronald Reagan, smiling emptily under a shellacked cap of shiny brown hair like a demon clown, warning us (With a knowing nod! With a wink!) about those evil Russians stockpiling nuclear arms thousands of miles away.

The cynicism is gone- at least for the moment. Not just for Gen Xers, but for many Boomers and Gen Y as well.