"When I Was Your Age, etc..."

Even as our government is seeking ways to distribute the extra money it has on hand, I seek to accumulate stories to pass down to my children of the "hard times" I have lived through. In my mind, I now know things are as bad or worse than the depression of 1929, the one my father lived through. As a tot, I recall my father telling us how we should appreciate things more, having it so much better than he did as a child. I wish to continue the legacy. My dad would tell how, during the stock market crash of '29, they would have to wait for days just to get bread, sometimes even having to eat it without the aid of a nice, chilled, orange marmalade. Life was hard then. Life is harder now.

Sure, our generation has never had to go barefoot to school or watch their banker commit suicide, but we have to live through plenty of our own hardships. And I must admit, I personally know a mutual stock investment banker that has a sleep disorder.
Hardships come in many forms and in a comparative sense, there are alot of us that don't have it so well economically. It aches my heart to watch others more fortunate than I; being able to dispose of their daily wear contact lenses, me actually having to cleanse mine, myself. I often feel the rush of embarrassment, handing over my Gold Visa card, seeing smirks from the checkout girl or the customer behind me, tapping her Platinum Card on the counter like an arrogant little hammer.

The list of things I "didn't have" grows longer and longer for the benefit of my children. I don't have a humidor to keep cigars humidified. I don't have a cappuccino machine. I am ashamed to say, I can only afford the "emergency" plan for my cell phone. Times are hard.

As my children grow older, I will relate to them how great actors of my time like Kevin Costner, would have to make two or three 100 million dollar movies a year, just to make a decent living. I will explain to them the economic hardships that athletes of my time had to endure because of suspensions for slapping their coaches or spitting on an umpire. My children are sure to grimace in confusion when I try to account for my generation's inability to applaud a president who could "score" with the ladies at will. These times have not always been kind.

My father's "great depression" was a force that actually unified a nation in it's calamity. I think my generation's depression has unified us too. We raise our fists together when stuck in mall traffic... or is that at each other? We join together to slander any other country who can make better products for a cheaper price. We coalesce when it comes to creating a perception that we have it so very bad.

The true difference between my father's depression and mine is, his was real, mine is perceived. Where people from that time and era had to deal with tenable problems and challenges, people from my generation only have conceived and invented problems. Where one generation had to deal with sweat and fear and hunger, another, today, mine, deals in tedium, anxiety and appetite. Life was hard then. Today, we just make life hard.

Billy Murphy - 4/13/98