Does Anyone Want to Be an Adult Anymore? (Up With Grups*)

New York Magazine ^ | March 2006 | Adam Sternbergh

[weegee]

...screw the office and screw jockeying for that promotion to VP, because isn’t promotion just another word for “slavery”?;

Actually the attitude is the realization that we won't be working for said firm in 20 years, or even in 15 years. We will be lucky to work at the same company for 5 years (and you can expect at least one takeover in that time and 4 re-organizations).

Hopefully it will compel more ADULTS to start their own companies (upstarts) whether they are internet companies or something else. Good money to be made. Be your own boss. More risk but better rewards.

[weegee]

What kiond of working men could afford to take the time to see those day games?

The 1920s had the Lost Generation. Lots of adults screwed off then too.

[nk_47]

“I find myself arguing with dads about the music their kids like,” he says. “One guy was telling me his son was really into Wilco. And I was telling him that’s lame. Because Wilco is so over.”

Time magazine had a comic strip about this very thing. In one panel, the kids were whining about Dad making them listen to Miles Davis.

I think most parents out there are too busy and tired to ponder what's cool, though. I do notice young teens listening to their parents' music, particularly 80s stuff.

[weegee]

While someone is paying $250 for a pair of "designer" jeans, some young designer is GETTING $250 for a pair of scruffy jeans. Money being made.

[OkiMusashi]

I've seen the Fonzy-thing, the Mood Ring Fad, the Hippy Costume Fad, Sun Dresses, bell-bottoms, those Buford T. Justice/Peter Fonda mirror sunglasses, Disco, Jams, the Great Bandana Craze of '83( or was it '82), those funny looking square pants that I can't even describe, Tatoos out the Wazoo, and the Tackle Box Face Look. It's all, basically, the same "Quest for Cool" Fad .... just different merchandise.

Life isn't "one thing after another". It's "the same damn thing over and over".

[orionblamblam]

> "Bonk bonk on the head."

Bba-BAYam!

[weegee]

And I remember "grunge fashion" being sold coast to coast in posh department stores in the early 1990s (15 years ago now). Watch the documentary Hype (about the Seattle music scene). It was all a JOKE that the industry didn't care about, someone "validated" it and they had a style guide they could sell to store buyers who in turn sold to the masses.

[weegee]

Cool is eternal. Those were all fruity fads.

[lesser_satan]

bump

[OkiMusashi]

You're tellin' me.

[weegee]

You'll find PLENTY of baby boomers in t-shirts and jeans any day at the mall. You'll even find adults over 45 dressed down in some churches.

IN the 1980s ADULTS wore cloth jogging suits (including sweatpants) as a fashion statement (I'm into the "jogging
" craze and don't care HOW I look to you, I'm comfortable).

[nk_47]

Hype was a pretty funny documentary. Loved the Sub Pop gal who fooled the Times with grunge terms.

[mysterio]

No, you should wear tighter pants, a white belt, and steal some Modest Mouse off of limewire. And your attitude is all wrong. You should be introspective and sad. Kind of like the 90s grunge thing, only with better hair.

Glad I could help.

[mysterio]

Oh, and don't forget to change the pictures on your myspace.

[Trajan88]

Emperor Trajan88 declares THUMBS DOWN on all that is pop culture.

Oh and one other thing regarding that "shoulder-slung messenger bag"... that my friends is a man purse. If you're a dude + you're carrying a man purse... you're a girl.

[Blackirish]

True your ...right If nobody is looking I'll still tear up to "Float On"

But if I live to 80 daaaaamn if I still won't crank up Social D.

[mysterio]

Yeah, I was wondering the other day how my grandkids are going to react to me screaming along with Temple of the Dog while I'm driving them to Chucky Cheese in 50 years.

[weegee]

Typically, the people who complain the most about this are the ones who can't pull it off.

Vice Magazine Fashion Do's and Don'ts

http://www.viceland.com/int/dos.php?country=us

[Wilhelm Tell]

Great article, but I came away with the conviction that not one of those poor sumbitches has the faintest idea who he or she really is. It's a mighty empty life when there isn't a person behind the image.

You singled out something important. Some people don't want to be persons, they want to be personas. It is rather creepy when you think about it in those terms. A lot of people are living in a fantasy world based on T.V. shows or music "artists." A lot of folks have been given everything so they think life is a game.

[The Foolkiller]

I have no idea what half of these things are.
I think that is good.

---

I'm with you.