generation gap or some such.

Generation gap. It is probably the only phrase that has come to our rescue as many times as it has smothered us. In 1965, when 41% of the American population consisted of 17 – 25 year olds, and when a predominantly white cultural zeitgeist that shunned all convention came into place, the phrase generation gap was given birth to, as a means to explain the chaos. I think it is now, just an excuse. 

Lets see why. There are elders who don’t think it is appropriate to get married as many times as Elizabeth Taylor did. If anybody has gotten married more than twice, they call it the Hollywood syndrome. Now hypothetically, if I think it is okay to do so, as long as you know what you are doing, and this leads to a fight, then the last word on that would be – generation gap.

There are quite a few things that people my age dismiss as an outcome of this ‘generation gap’. There is respect lost, both ways, since nobody likes the output (s) of this essential fundamentalism.

While reading up on the origins of this unnecessary phenomenon, I noticed a few interesting things. There apparently have been programs designed to ‘bridge this gap’. These would include bringing people of different generations together, for a music based orientation session, getting people to interact with people of different age groups, etc. Effective methods have been sending the ‘bookend generations’ (senior citizens, and pre schoolers) to a day care, where one generation takes care of the other. So you mean to say, sitting down and talking face to face dispels this excuse that we have developed as a part of our ingrained fight or flight instincts?

Let’s try and redefine it now. This phrase was introduced as a means to express the inherent conservatism present in every ‘older’ generation, when the ‘newer’ generation backs off from what is the norm, and find easier, and arguably better ways, to get things done. This is what we call growth. It is a continuous process, and not a gap. Every society, every thought, and every human aims to go forward, to be more ideologically, and otherwise, advanced. How is the process that enables the advancement, any sort of gap?

Its not only the older generation that lends a helping hand in dismissing ideas. The new generation does that too. Anything old is a cliché, and rebellion is our motto. There are some things that are the norms for a reason, but how can we hold our heads high and claim to be youngsters if we don’t rebel, and constructively break the rules? The new roads then go on to being the norm, while the generation that formed them, hold it close to their hearts, and blame everybody else, when the positions are changed. This too, is a vicious circle. 

An equally interesting observation would be the rush to make any positivity in thought or action, be it an increase in rationale, technological advancements, progressive ideologies, the product of one’s own generation. Whoever claims it has a blanket opinion on the people of the older generation, forming a never ending cycle of stereotypes.

How many of us get exasperated by the number of times we have to teach our parents how to use their devices? How many times have we laughed at their attempts to try to get something done on an electronic device?  How many times have our parents told us about their childhood, how they climbed the trees, and played in the water, and how everything was simple and happy then, and how they take pity on us, because of the kind of world we live in? These emotions, occurrences are all also classified as generation gap. But think about it. They are merely trying to catch up to the material and physical advances that make their life difficult in just the same manner as it makes ours easy. We will soon be doing this too, and we will take pity on the next generation that 'has missed out' on so much that we had!