Pattern Recognition
Yesterday, Matt and I went out to eat. We didn’t realize, until we got to the planned restaurant, that it was Prom Night. Hoards of couples and stag groups dressed to the nines were waiting in line with us. I was happily comfortable in a newly broken in pair of jeans and a sweatshirt. He was wearing his usual ratty collared-knit (to call it a polo shirt is kind of an understatement) and baggy shorts. I was so happy that I wasn’t in high school anymore. It’s nice to be grown up and self-employed.
It wasn’t but a few weeks ago, we were discussing how most of the kids who are voting in this upcoming election do not remember the first Gulf War. Most of them were not even born until after the Cold War ended. They don’t remember the Berlin Wall. Pink Floyd’s song. . . probably doesn’t mean the same thing to them.
I have some colleagues from Eastern Europe, who remember the days before the Cold War ended. They remember rationing. It wasn’t so very long ago. But Matt’s right. Kids today know nothing of that. I say “kids” as if they are babies, but they’re not babies. They’re just of another age. They have always known CD’s, not cassette tapes. They have always known cable television. For most, this Gulf War is their only war. Although they were alive when it started, few are able to remember a war we fought in Bosnia. For them, war is something that is only created by Republicans.
Today, I saw a map of eastern Europe, and it looks so different. I don’t think there are many people my age who can appreciate how different it looks. I remember having to draw a map of eastern Europe in 5th grade, and to memorize the borders of the countries. That knowledge does me no good any longer, because there are countries there that didn’t used to exist in maps.
What a wonder it is! Political boundaries are so changeable, and people delineate so carefully, and yet dispute it so rabidly. In another 18 years, another group of prom go-ers will flock to restaurants around the country. And perhaps last night’s party-goers will look at them, and say, “None of these kids remember the Iraq War.”
