‘LAWS OF LIFE’ ESSAY SUBMISSION (EXCERPT)

Aaron DeVera

Ageism, if it’s a word, might as well be an epidemic, as it’s been too long since I have seen a door held open for a struggling senior, or patience driving behind an elderly couple on the road. Waiting in line at the grocery store has become somewhat of a symphony, as foot-tapping, restless rustling of groceries, and coughing all chime in from the people in line, waiting for a man my grandfather’s age to finish checking out at the register. While it’s often futile to generalize, and usually ignorant to make assumptions, the gap between the young and the old due to the Internet, instant gratification and the “age of information,” has grown so far that my grandfather often thinks I’m speaking a different language when I talk with my siblings. Yet, my generation has been told from day one that “the competition will be harder,” or “there’s no more room,” or my personal favorite: “you’re not all going to make it.” Is it because we are young, confused, and misguided? Yes, I believe we are, and the Baby Boomers, the President, Madison Avenue, MADD, and the Church agree. This is because of respect, or our lack thereof. We may be a generation that reinvented communication with the social network and created billion dollar companies overnight, but we are also a generation that murdered 32 people in Virginia and shot a Congresswoman in Tucson, with the reasons seeming to be “no reason at all.” My personal and observed experience is seeing our downward spiral and thinking this is not who we are: we are not nihilists. But I believe that until my generation proves that we can respect those who have come before us, and try to improve the world left to us, we’ll be known for our infamy before we are known for our achievements.