Really, Generation Y??

So yesterday, I was prowling around the Internet and I found one of those lists that are supposed to make you feel old but really just make you feel nostalgic.  You know the ones I'm talking about.  They refer to Captain Kangaroo or cigarette commercials that used to run on TV (Winston tastes good like a cigarette should...) or the theme song to The Mary Tyler-Moore Show (Who can turn the world on with a smile...)  They'll show you then and now photos of the actress who played Tabitha on Bewitched or remind you that the first season of that show was in black and white.  Those lists never fail to take me back to the good ol' days but I don't really feel old because after all - those references are not that old.  Or so I thought.

This particular list I stumbled upon was called "48 Things That Will Make You Feel Old" and all its references to television, people, and events were from the 1980's and '90's.  It showed then and now pictures of the cast of "Fresh Prince of Bel Air".  Like is was so shocking to see how they've changed.  As though the transformation from "young" to "only slightly less young" should solicit a groaning "oh my gawd!!!"  It showed the packaging of "Butterfinger's BBs" and observe that you will never be able to buy them again because they stopped selling them years ago!  Like the sight of these chocolate candies should hearken to a sweeter, less complicated time of old - 1989.  It lists that "ER" and "Seinfield" were the top two shows in 1997.  Yes, and...???


And what does this all mean?  It means that kids born from 1975 - 1985 are actually beginning to feel the pangs of aging.  And how could that possibly be?  The oldest of these would still only be 37.  And I just want to go on record as saying that they have no right to feel old.  Because if their list makes them feel old, then my lists seem like the turn-of-the-century.  "Mad Men" must seem like The History Channel to them.

And if 37 is old, I guess they can stick a fork in me.

Youth is wasted on the young.