THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, September 18, 1994 TAG: 9409160016
SECTION: COMMENTARY PAGE: J4 EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: Opinion
SOURCE: BY NANCY COSTA
LENGTH: Medium: 61 lines
Attention all people between the ages of 14 and 29. Did you know that you have been classified as the confused, the lazy and the scared? You are members of Generation X.
Fast food, long hair, and bad attitude, the Baby Boomers say disdainfully. Never will amount to much, they add haughtily.
Are we really doomed to live on our parents' couches for the rest of our lives, surrounded by crusty pizza boxes and watching ``Three's Company'' reruns? Say it isn't so.
X'ers are people born between 1965 and 1980. Some people like New Republic columnist Mike Kinsley, call it the soft generation - unlike the Baby Boomers who fought in Vietnam, the only conflict X'ers have been involved in is the shortlived Desert Storm.
The term Generation X came from a nouveau novel by Doug Coupland, but ``Generation X'' doesn't mean anything to most teenagers to whom it applies.
``It's such a general idea,'' says Rumana Siddiky, a senior at Norfolk Academy. She doesn't even think the term applies to herself. ``But does anyone?'' she asks dryly
Not all teens are upset about being labeled as unfocused and lazy, or a ``slacker,'' as the X'ers would call it. It's a phase that all young people go through, they say, no matter the generation to which they belong.
``I used to think I was the biggest slacker in the world,'' says Jason Gorfine, a senior at Norfolk Collegiate School, ``but I'm working on it. I have goals . . . kind of. I know what I don't want to be.''
Economists and political scientists say that X is the first generation destined to do worse than their parents. But X's members aren't pessimistic.
Susan Biernot, a Western Branch High School senior, doesn't believe that her future will be as grim as the experts predict. ``Every day there are new opportunities developing, new fields are opening, new jobs,'' Susan said.
Generation X'ers may be confused, but they are trying to get focused. Like generations before and probably the ones after, these post-baby boomers are in a tizzy. But then what can be expected of people that are ravaged every day by hormones and MTV?
The X'ers, unlike the Baby Boomers, don't feel a need to ``have it all.'' They have no dreams of caviar, mansions and BMWs. They'd be satisfied with a bag of Mexican food, a three-bedroom flat and a second hand Saab.
They're not yuppies, but they should not be considered deadbeats simply biding their time until their next visit to Taco Bell.
Their hopes and dreams, for the most part, are sensible. Rumana Siddiky says, ``I want to continue my education as far as possible and make sure my family has healthy lives.''
Angela Paez voices the opinion of many in her generation, when she says, ``We all just want to be happy.'' MEMO: Nancy Costa is a Norfolk Collegiate senior. She wrote this story as part
of the newspapers' 8th Annual Minority Journalism Workshop. ILLUSTRATION: Photo
NANCY COSTA
by CNB