Goodnight, cow jumping over the moon (chewing on non-hormone-treated cud)

I hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving! I did, but together with that bearer-of-epiphanies that is the IM convo with Gina, it made me realize that people are getting younger. I mean, younger people are getting older... I mean, people who are younger are taking up positions in society and the workforce that were once more predominantly occupied by people who are older.

The signs that one is getting older are obvious and absolute; I have a streak of gray hair and my once chinchilla-like metabolism isn't coming through for me like it used to. But what I want to talk about here are the more relative signs that times change, like the fact that the generation entering the workforce today wouldn't know that Madonna wasn't always an English Jew.

What I'm really trying to say is, you know you're getting older when you increasingly find yourself in conversations about what's wrong with kids these days. And you don't mean kids on planes; you mean kids in the office.

I found myself in one of those conversations last night and again tonight. After Thanksgiving Dinner, someone brought up the "helicopter generation" phenomenon, aka "the millennials," but I like 'helicopter,' because it's a reference to the hovering of the parents. Can you believe that it's common now for parents to demand an explanation from human resources for why their child wasn't hired, or to call their child's management when there's a problem.

Now let's put this in perspective: to appreciate just how messed-up that is, understand that my mother would never think of doing that.

But I digress. This is about how I've become a "kids-these-days" curmudgeon, not about what's actually wrong with kids these days.

There's more: not only do I regularly engage in "what is this world coming to" conversations, but-- as I realized thinking back on my chat with Gina-- my perspective on what this world is coming to appears to be largely based on pieces that appear in the New York Times. I realize that one can do a lot worse for a predominant source of information, but still. How long could I go without referencing an NYT article?

It all started with my sharing the Sesame Street article with Gina (which Serenity shared with me). And if you haven't read this, you must.

Sesame Street

So, Gina and I discuss the Sesame Street article and what it means about what this world is coming to, and by the end of the conversation, we've incorporated the chicken nuggets article and what it means about what the world is coming to, and the Goodnight Moon article and... you get the point. See below:

10:22 PM did you see the piece about how there's a warning on the original sesame st dvd set, about how it's not suitable for children?
Gina: No...
me: [link]
10:27 PM me: oh and this explains me
it's been a year of holidays, considering how many weddings/rehearsal dinners I've been to Holiday Weight Gain
10:28 PM Gina: Good ol' over-sheltering of 21st century children.
I was just talking about this with my sister.
10:29 PM Gina: I totally remember Alistair Cookie.
And I've never felt the urge to smoke a pipe.
me: we were talking about it too, about how entitled the generation now entering the workforce is.
Gina: Yeah.
me: parents calling and asking why their kids weren't hired or why they were managed
Gina: I'd read about it happening in colleges...
10:50 PM me: ok, goodnight, feel better
Gina: I just finished reading the Sesame St. article.
Goodnight... thanks.
10:51 PM me: oh, what did you think
Gina: It's fascinating.
me: (I'm reading an article about sweater care, in the paper/not online)...
yeah, pipes shouldn't be smoked or eaten
Gina: I was just having a conversation with my sister along similar lines...
me: it's funny, I watched Sesame St as a child, and I did not grow up eating pipes
Gina: Rebecca (10) had to do a project in school on a celebrity. She picked Shirley Temple. I was saying how I think it's important for children to be exposed to these "classics," the same way they should be exposed to classic literature, or should study the old theorists or philosophers. I was saying how the kid up the road, Auron, watches a lot of movies, kid ones but full-feature Disney films and things, even though he's only 2. I try to limit that. His mother mentioned that Auron does not like the "old" Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer. Auron will only watch the new, improved, computer-animated Rudolph. I thought that was fascinating, that a kid would be that discriminating.
But wait, that's only about graphics.
What about the story liine?
It occurred to me that Tristan watches Dumbo, circa 1940 or whatever it is
Gina: And there are things that stick out in these old movies, things that wouldn't be appropriate in a new movie made today.
Gina: But I just refuse to shelter Tristan from these movies, because I fear that somehow something will be missing in his psyche if he is.
11:00 PM Maybe I'm totally over-dramatizing, but that's just what I believe.
11:01 PM me: agree
Gina: It's the same as censoring literature..
Gina: Yeah, I mean I just loved Sesame St. as a child, and always hoped it would still be on the air when I had children.
me: yeah
Gina: Sesame St. is so great in so many ways. Interestingly, Auron doesn't watch it. Not because he's not allowed, I guess he just doesn't like it.
Gina: Tristan does. Of course, he is partial to Elmo...He's starting to express things like being scared of certain parts of shows or movies, and I think that's good.
11:04 PM I say it's okay to be scared. Or sad, like when Dumbo's mom gets locked up.
me: exactly
Gina: I mean, it's horrible, really, but how else are kids supposed to learn and grapple with hard things in life?
11:05 PM me: did you see that article a while ago about what a censored version of goodnight moon would read like?
Gina: I did...
Gina: Yeah, I recited that to Tristan every day for the first two years of his life (lately I've been reading other things at bedtime).
11:06 PM It's funny, the balloon is a choking hazard.
And Pa's smoking a pipe.
me: is he eating it, too?
11:07 PM Gina: But that book is not even about those things, it's about the melody of the rhyme, and saying goodnight to your things.
me: exactly. does any child care, even notice?
Gina: No
me: I hate smoking, and I doubt it’s because I wasn't exposed to images of pipe-smoking as a child
Gina: I was reading an interview by Madeline L'Engle, probably from some Smith thing. She was talking about how she read everything as a child, things meant for adults. And she just automatically censored out the things that weren't of interest to her.
me: it's like the chicken nuggets thing, except culturally
Gina: I'm trying to apply your chicken nugget analogy... Oh, limited diet?
11:10 PM me: remember that oped piece, I think I sent it to you, on how chicken nuggets and the whole concept of kids meals, are creating a generation of chicken nugget adults?
Gina: Yeah, diversifying his diet has actually been the hard part...
me: the kids don't learn to try new or interesting food
Gina: Yeah. But it's exactly the same concept.
me: she was talking about how as a child, she ate what her parents ate, it didn't occur to anyone to create bland food just for her
Gina: Auron will only watch the flashy, 21st century Rudolph.
me: we're sterilizing our kids' brain food
11:11 PM Gina: True, that. On that note, I should probably get to bed.
me: me too. goodnight, it was good chatting
Gina: Okay, my eyes hurt. goodnight moon.
me: goodnight room
Gina: Goodnight cow jumping over the moon (chewing on non-hormone-treated cud).
me: lol
Gina: Okay, goodnight alrready!
me: goodnight!!!

Goodbye, Moon
Chicken Nuggets