The Icepick Cometh

There's always a quote saying that Generation Xers don't want to be labeled as such, to be pigeon-holed into a category and easily defined. But to me, that's what is appealing about the label of "Generation X" — that this generation is not easily defined, that it is vast and diverse and has only one overriding thing in common — its birth years.

There is no doubt that when you were born colors how you see the world, how you react to world events, and how others see you. A 13-year-old experienced very different feelings on 9/11 than a 33-year-old or a 63-year-old. It is the prism of experience and simply life-living. And while people of vastly different ages can, in fact, see many things in the same manner, there is no doubt how a certain age set will be called upon to tackle different things — and that, my friend, is a generation. Whether it is today's 18- to 25-year-olds fighting overseas, or the 30- to 40-year old set who will be called upon to pay the debts of the bloated and overspending Baby Boomers now entering retirement and a prolonged old-age en masse.