Twenty Years
One of the stranger things about life in my 30s is that I'm regularly reflecting on events in my life that allow me to state, "That was twenty years ago." Or, "That was nearly twenty years ago" or "That was over twenty years ago."Beyond the semi-remarkable fact that I can say this, the more interesting thing to me is that these "Twenty Year" events are not distant memories. They're forever etched vividly in my mind because I wasn't that young when they happened.
It didn't used to be like that. "Twenty years ago" used to refer to something that seemed really distant, because it was before I was born. Or, perhaps, when I was very young. That's all changed. Granted, it seems like it was a while ago, but it doesn't seem like it was what my mind comprehends "twenty years ago" to mean. Twenty years ago, I was in 9th grade. I was in high school. (Sort of. Where I grew up, 9th grade was still in the junior high building.)
So "twenty years ago" is no longer some window of time where I was either not around or too young to have a valid first hand point of view on the a subject. I was living it and living it big. "I'll tell ya about how shit was twenty years ago, and I'll do so through first hand tales!"
Well, it hasn't quite been twenty years, but if memory serves me correctly, seventeen years ago yesterday, I got my driver's license. And I was seventeen at the time. So that means that I now have been driving—activity that seemed like a "when I get older" kind of thing for so many years—for as long as I didn't. I have been a driver for half my life. (Well, technically, I'm a few month short of this, since I was seventeen and change when I got the license, not exactly seventeen, but the math is close enough for you to get the idea.)
Time flies by. In the last few years, I've fully understood what all the older people in my lives meant when they said, "It goes by quickly." This has nothing to do with being nearly halfway through my 30s. It's just that when I see how quickly I got here, I suddenly feel that my 40s, 50, and even my 60s are not these elusive ages that I can't comprehend. I see 60. It's down the road, but it's visible. If you're about my age, you probably know what I'm talking about. If you're younger—like in your 20s—you probably get it a little, but you might not fully get it. But for those folks, I'm telling you to watch out, because it's coming.
You should be very scared. No, I'm kidding. You shouldn't be scared, and I'm not scared. I don't think it's a bad thing. I generally like being the age I am and I always have. But beware. One day, you're going to be having your own "Twenty Year" epiphany, if you haven't already. And when that day gets here, you'll be amazed at how quickly it got here. You'll be amazed that you are a person that can speak so candidly about something that happened twenty years ago.
But good or bad, I still think it's fascinating. My obsession about time, age, and the relativity of how we see the world with respect to those concepts is built right into the domain name of this blog ("thymenage"). I've touched on these subjects several times already, and I surely will over and over again. It's quite amazing. Twenty years.
posted by Steve @ 1:37 PM
5 Comments:
I think about this "twenty year" thing all the time. Probably because we seem to be the same age and I guess that's the kind of thing you think about when you're thirty-four.
The book I'm writing is set in 1987, because that's a time I remember so vividly. I really have no idea what it's like to be a kid today, what with cellphones and iPods and internet porn–jeez, being kid today seems so dangerous and complicated!
Twenty years ago, things were easy. But it really went by fast.
By the way, I have seventy pages done on my masterpiece. Tonight, before we even started the whole "New Yawk Tawk" thing, I read it out loud to myself, just to see what it sounds like. I kept thinking I sounded like an idiot.
My school also had 9th grade at the junior high. I wonder why that was. Now it's called "middle school". I hate that term. Junior high sounds more dignified to me than middle school.
And I still don't have a driver's license. I failed my road test three times. Isn't that terrible? Anyway, I fled Long Island as soon as I graduated high school and have lived in Manhattan and Brooklyn ever since. I have a NYS ID card, or what I refer to as my license to walk. Not that anyone has carded me in a while, though. Sigh. Twenty years.
[[[[[ I really have no idea what it's like to be a kid today, what with cellphones and iPods and internet porn–jeez, being kid today seems so dangerous and complicated! ]]]]]
I think the whole communications advances—cellphones, email, IM—are the things that made for big changes. I have a blog entry probably back in the September 2005 archives called "Cell Phones Breeding People Who Sound Like Morons" that touches a little bit on this whole phenomenon of being a kid with your own private phone line for just your friends.
I also recall that when my friends and I all departed to different areas for college, we had to keep in touch by writing old-fashioned letters—so unlike email or, better yet, IM, there was AT BEST a week long lag between correspondence. If I sent a letter to a friend and they wrote back and mailed it the same hour they received it, it still took about 6 days.
And phones? Forget it! We had landlines, of course, but as college students, we couldn't afford to make long distance calls on a regular basis. Maybe once in a while. These days, kids can keep well in touch quite well, and if they have the same phone carrier, it's free.
As for the porn—that's true, too. As 12 year olds, the only time we could possibly see nudity was if we found a Playboy in the woods or something.
[[[[ Tonight, before we even started the whole "New Yawk Tawk" thing, I read it out loud to myself, just to see what it sounds like. I kept thinking I sounded like an idiot. ]]]]]
I'm sure you sounded fine and that the book was fine. We all think we sound bad when hear ourselves.
[[[ Junior high sounds more dignified to me than middle school. ]]]]]
Absolutely. I'm pro-"Junior High" and anti-"Middle School." Middle School sounds more baby-ish.
[[[[ And I still don't have a driver's license. I failed my road test three times. Isn't that terrible? ]]]]
I was fortunate to pass it on the first try, but I recall there was a lot of pressure. I was almost afraid to tell people I was going for my test because I didn't want to be subject to ridicule if I failed. It was a miserable experience that was based mostly on luck, I think. Knowing how to parallel park helped, but it's not like a new driver who just passed his or her road test is particularly skilled. Like with most things, repetition is how you got comfortable and good. I think most people taking their road test were not so hot behind the wheel—but it's like doing a "take" in a recording or movie: sometimes you give a good performance, sometimes you botch it. I think you'd have passed on your fourth try, just like I probably could have easily failed on my second if I had to do it again.
At any rate, as I'm sure you well know, you're in one of the best places in the world to be functional without a licence.
I got really lucky when it came to my drivers test. I wsa in Florida, and at that time, if you took driver's ed in high school and passed the class's final exam, you got a waver for the driving portion of the test. You just brought in your little slip of paper, took the eye exam, got your picture done, and you were good to go. So instead of having one stress-filled moment, you had a whole semester to practice in the car you would take the final test in, on the course you would be taking it on. Getting advice and pointers the whole time on what you were doing wrong and how to do it right.
I am pretty sure they stopped that practice shortly after I got mine, but I still think it is the single best way to go about it, since you know that the person getting a new license isn't getting by on one lucky day, or being penalized for a bad case of nerves. They have either learned it well enough to pass, or they haven't.
I finally took mine last summer. The test wasn't all that hyped up to be. We, the test lady and I, drove around for about five maybe ten minutes, most of which was spent at stop lights, and went back to the DMV where she said, "You passed. And, you can turn right on red at Martway and Lamar." And that was all there was to it. Thankfully, in Kansas, you don't have to parrallel park to get a license. On the other hand, you do to be able to park at my house when all the family is over. If not you end up calling the house from your cell phone and pleading, "Someone come out and park the car!"
So even though I have a license, I don't have a vehicle. I still get most places by walking or riding my bike. Warrensburg, where I go to college, is small enough I can get everywhere i need to like that and have for the last three and half years. Sometimes getting a ride somewhere if a friend was going, or catching a ride on the sorry excuse for public transportation.
But for the drastict increase in communication capabilities from when you went to school and when I started/ now. I lost touch with just about everyone I graduated with. It kinda sucks. But, there's a reason I think, just to long to do for a comment.
The funny thing about "20 years ago" now as opposed to say "20 years ago" 20 years ago, is that today, there are whole radio stations and timeslots devoted to "the sounds of the 80's" and whatnot, but back then when I was in high school, I don't seem to recall hearing too much of the "sounds of the 50's and 60's!" on the radio. It could be that I just wasn't trying too hard to find them, but you have to admit, the 80's style had a lasting impression on the musical landscape.
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