Y2K was never scary to me. Instead it was kind of like a third parent.
My mom and dad both got jobs working to fight off the hypothetical breakdown of all humanity and so as the year 2000 approached I was living in the lap of luxury. Gameboys. Disneyland passes. Eating at restaurants. It was a boyhood dream, but for most of us from the Y2K generation there were very few boyhood dreams to remember.
I think it started with Columbine. April 20, 1999. As a 6th grader I don't think I ever really understood why Columbine was such a big deal. All I knew was how it affected the 1999 Lip Sync competition... my last year of being able to Lip Sync and earn my rightful place at the top of the popularity pyramid. My dad had a collection of Dr. Demento songs that he would listen to on repeat and so when it came to picking a song this was of course the only library I had to choose from.
Star Trekkin'. After the success of Camp Grananda the year before Star Trekkin' was a guaranteed winner. I remember my parents getting a call after dinner and wondering what had happened. Was it my grades? Was it one of my dance moves? I tried to keep it as unsuggestive as possible but sometimes my body just needs to express itself.
"We come in peace. Shoot to kill, shoot to kill, shoot to kill," this "obscene and violent" line had gotten us removed from the competition. We'd need to come up with a new song and new choreography in a few short days.
Columbine had officially ruined my life. I don't mean to belittle the impact of that tragedy, in fact I found out years later that Columbine had hit far closer to home than I had thought. Rather than belittling I think this example shows that Columbine's impact on the lives of the Y2K generation is far larger than we think, hidden in the minutia of everyday. There was this fear that gripped parents everywhere and it was this fear that kids lived under every day. First Columbine, then the end of the world happening on New Year's.
When I went into 9th grade I was terrified. Subconsciously I was terrified of all of the things that could unexpectedly side swipe you and completely reroute your life but consciously I was afraid of just being a High Schooler. The fear of being a High Schooler is more than enough to send any pubescent teen running away crying. But in the first month of being an official high schooler a fear bigger than Columbine and Y2K combined entered into my life so quickly and unexpectedly that I knew from that day on our generation was scarred, scared, fearful.
-to be continued- (sorry guys, crazy day and didn't have time to finish up. Alex fail) Part 2 up next week.
My mom and dad both got jobs working to fight off the hypothetical breakdown of all humanity and so as the year 2000 approached I was living in the lap of luxury. Gameboys. Disneyland passes. Eating at restaurants. It was a boyhood dream, but for most of us from the Y2K generation there were very few boyhood dreams to remember.
I think it started with Columbine. April 20, 1999. As a 6th grader I don't think I ever really understood why Columbine was such a big deal. All I knew was how it affected the 1999 Lip Sync competition... my last year of being able to Lip Sync and earn my rightful place at the top of the popularity pyramid. My dad had a collection of Dr. Demento songs that he would listen to on repeat and so when it came to picking a song this was of course the only library I had to choose from.
Star Trekkin'. After the success of Camp Grananda the year before Star Trekkin' was a guaranteed winner. I remember my parents getting a call after dinner and wondering what had happened. Was it my grades? Was it one of my dance moves? I tried to keep it as unsuggestive as possible but sometimes my body just needs to express itself.
"We come in peace. Shoot to kill, shoot to kill, shoot to kill," this "obscene and violent" line had gotten us removed from the competition. We'd need to come up with a new song and new choreography in a few short days.
Columbine had officially ruined my life. I don't mean to belittle the impact of that tragedy, in fact I found out years later that Columbine had hit far closer to home than I had thought. Rather than belittling I think this example shows that Columbine's impact on the lives of the Y2K generation is far larger than we think, hidden in the minutia of everyday. There was this fear that gripped parents everywhere and it was this fear that kids lived under every day. First Columbine, then the end of the world happening on New Year's.
When I went into 9th grade I was terrified. Subconsciously I was terrified of all of the things that could unexpectedly side swipe you and completely reroute your life but consciously I was afraid of just being a High Schooler. The fear of being a High Schooler is more than enough to send any pubescent teen running away crying. But in the first month of being an official high schooler a fear bigger than Columbine and Y2K combined entered into my life so quickly and unexpectedly that I knew from that day on our generation was scarred, scared, fearful.
-to be continued- (sorry guys, crazy day and didn't have time to finish up. Alex fail) Part 2 up next week.
No comments:
Post a Comment