Snow

It snowed today. There's something about the first snow that makes one forgive the biting cold that will soon be upon us, makes one forget about the freezing rain that preceded it.

The snow made me think of us. Made me imagine us hand in hand, going out to dinner in a quaint restaurant in the old section of downtown. When winter's air is still crisp and fresh, it is the little things that count. The light crackle of fresh snow under shoes, sidewalks unmarred by the slush that will arrive within days, even hours. The clouds clearing for a moment and the moonlight illuminating your beautiful features, the cold just cold enough to bring a rosy colour to your cheeks, matching your full red lips.

Afterwards, music and conversation in a den...a crackling fire in the fireplace bathing us in warmth and comfort. The music and lights are low, and we're having one of those late night conversations about nothing at all, the half empty bottle of wine lays forgotten on the end table-alcohol isn't needed to keep each other's attention. Our cars lay abandoned in the driveway as the snow continues to fall. We don't care, we aren't going anywhere.

Evening turns into night, and night marches on...we don't notice, rapt in each other's company.

It snowed today. This didn't happen, nor will it tomorrow. Why would I ever write it down? I don't know. I needed to write it down, needed to let my thoughts out for air. Out of six billion people on this Earth, the last one that I think would read this-would be you.

An invisible generation

I was shopping this weekend at Sears when I noticed something. A disturbing lack of people in my generation floating around. I know I was at Sears, probably on of the least hip (or is it affordable) stores in Belleville, but I found this shocking.

Firstly, the mall was packed. The parking lot was full almost to overflowing, and walking space was limited in the stores. It wasn't a quiet day, and my half hour wait in line to check out was a testimony to this. Secondly, I'm not limiting this problem to the customers...there were very few young staff members.

Maybe it's an upsurge in the popularity of online shopping. But I've speculated that it's something far different, and perhaps worse.

My generation is the one that no matter how much time passes, refuses to grow up.

As I enter my mid-20's (mid already, amazing how time flies), I look around at my friends and former classmates. Very few of us are out there working real 9 to 5 jobs, and have places of our own. I can count on two hands the number of people my age that are out of their parents' house, have finished a college or university course, and have non-minimum wage jobs. A great number of us are still tied to our parents in some way, whether it be for financial support, food, or housing.

That's what I saw yesterday-our parents going about day to day life. Our parents' generation was out shopping, and our parents' generation was running the store. No twenty somethings out buying clothes or Christmas presents, and hardly any behind the desks. We weren't there, no showing...I had plenty of time to muse about this as I stood in line. We were at home playing computer games, working the fast food joints, studying for exams, or listening to the latest pop albums (of which #1 and 2 at Future Shop this week are Ms. Spears and Backstreet Boys respectively this week, something that scares me a great deal for progress in music, but that's another post).

Is it too much to ask for our generation to get off our butts and start to take over? Granted the boomers outnumber us by a huge number, but I've been waiting my entire adult life to start to see my peers in the workforce, in the public, in places other than the gym, school, and so on...other than where our late teens and first few years of college were spent. I work for a company that has 250 office staff. My office holds 60 people. There is exactly one other person under 30 here, two or three under 40, and I would say less than 10% company-wide. Every job I've ever had other than Wal-Mart has been like this.

If our generation doesn't start stepping up to the plate and taking responsibility for stuff soon, we're going to be on a collision for some interesting times. Sooner or later, the boomers are going to start retiring, and we're going to have to. If we don't have competent, trained individuals out in the "real world" by then, we may just have to rely on our parents for everything forever...won't that be fun?

Guess I'm sick of feeling a little older, and looking around at everyone who still feels young. Call me bitter, but I think we all need to grow up a bit, else our generation will always be invisible.