Generation gap

There is this song I was raving about earlier this year - "Wear Sunscreen."

In that I remember a line to the likes of, each generation thinks that their leaders were better, their childhood nicer etc. etc. I know I can look it up and put in the exact line, but I think you guys get the drift - how every one is convinced that their life was simpler than that of the next generation.

Earlier, seeing a kid with a funky phone was to me an example of a generation gap. Now, I see the necessity in a few cases, especially when a few naughty kids pretend to not know when they should be home. Using a phone as a reminder to call them seems logical. Not all get funky phones, but then, it really shouldn't matter as what one parent can and will afford is different from another.

Recently, I was speaking with a boy in my team. He was very young but looked much older, largely due to his lifestyle. I am not being judgmental here - I actually like the boy.

He was telling me that he couldn't afford to repair his watch and hence had let it be. I was suggesting a few shops where he could get it repaired and then he shows me the watch online - its a tissot. I am not familiar with brands, but I have to be living under a rock to not have heard of Tissot. The price just shocked me. It was close to 20k. He is not much younger than me, but the fact remains that it seems to be a normal expense for him. He also is the proud owner of an iphone.

Till date, I think a lot before buying anything expensive. We do spend a lot, a lot more than what we imagined ourselves spending even 5 years ago. If i ran into my older self through some time travel portal, i will hear a earful about my lifestyle.

But then lot becomes a relative term.

We went to this swanky restaurant Saturday night. It was not a place we would usually frequent as it is more a pub than a restaurant and since none of us drink, we go to places where the food is the key. The place was 4 floors and each floor was packed. There were so many people, barely out of college, drinking, smoking and having fun. Then, there were a few more very obviously out of place, but just gawking at the pretty girls and trying to look cool.

We loved the food there and hogged to our hearts content, but a small part of me wondered why I never consciously seek out places like this and why I never tried to hang out with a crowd to chill like this.

I have never actively sought out company to chill while drinking as I've been blessed with company that can chill even while setting up golu padi or while cooking together or foraging for fruits (of all things) together or traveling. We are all just different people. But I get bugged to no end when I am just branded as boring because I don't indulge in alcohol. Can some of them socialize without drinking? That calls for a different post altogether.

The population that looks for such different modes to chill, to spend and to indulge is just 4-5 years younger than me. Our lifestyles, our choices, they couldn't be any different. Still. we are similar in that the IT industry has moulded our life.

This generation gap is not of decades - it is hardly of a few years. How much are things changing? I have no clue and I can only watch.