Gen X---The Thirty-Something Thread

[Pel]

Keep on having fun here.

[Variety]

And to continue the conversation . . .
If given the chance to be a teenager again, but only if you were a teenager in today's world, would you do it?

I have to echo the NO! I wasn't particularly fond of being a teenager back then, why would I want to give up the freedom of adulthood now? I guess we all had to go through it, but those years are hard. The lucky ones figure out who they are and what they want with life fairly quick. The unlucky ones struggle with adulthood. I feel fortunately to have a good life, and I know who I am, and what I want out of life (for now). I wouldn't trade that for the world.

ETA: Cool, first post.

[Goodnight Elizabeth]

Mmmmm I love the look of a nice clean thread!

I, too, will say No. I would not want to be a teen again for nothing. No matter where.

I honestly think we had the best generation so far. We were given just enough freedom to know independence, pain, rejection, and responsibility. We were also given just enough restriction to know we were loved and to feel safe.

I'm glad we didn't have the internet when I was younger. I'm glad we were limited with Atari. I'm glad our news didn't tell us everything. I'm glad innuendo was still on TV...instead of being "in our faces" as it is now. I didn't comprehend all the Three's Company innuendos until I was much older. I'm glad I was rejected from the 6th grade softball team because it made me tougher. I learned that life doesn't always go my way.

Oh lordy, I'm shutting up now.

[bac]

I'm glad we didn't have the internet when I was younger. I'm glad we were limited with Atari. I'm glad our news didn't tell us everything. I'm glad innuendo was still on TV...instead of being "in our faces" as it is now. I didn't comprehend all the Three's Company innuendos until I was much older.

I would not want to be a teen in this day because of the above (I was thinking some of the exact things), plus being a teen was hard for me like many of you. I would not want to do it again.

I asked my husband and he said he would be a teen again in a heartbeat, even today. He loved HS and had a blast with lots of friends. I explained to him that it would be today, in this day and age, not back in the 80's. He said he would still do it again. He said being a teen is fun...playing school sports, hanging out with friends, going to the beach, etc. This is a man who has been essentially in medical training for the last 8+ years and has been working 30 hour shifts in the surgical intensive care unit for the last 3 weeks. I think he views being a teen as easy versus what he has been doing. He had a good teen experience too. So I would find it curious if men and women answer this question differently and/or if those who had a positive teen experience versus those that had a difficult teen experience would answer differently. Hmmm.

[twilightmom]

Bac: I enjoy your new banner!

I got lost in the question... Was it would we want to "re-live" being a teen, but in today's world - like we would retain all of our adult knowledge? Or is it more would we want to be a teen growing up in today's world? Does it really make a difference?

I agree with several of the posts - GNE, good words, too! There were several things I loved and disliked about being a teen - but that's what it's supposed to be about... I loved that I grew up when I did and enjoy the better memories now (with my 20 year reunion this summer... it's all about the memories!) Sometimes I think ... What if? But I don't regret. I think it would be interesting to either do a "Peggy Sue" (which we already discussed a while ago)... where I could go back to a certain point and "re-live," but able to jump back into my current life. OR Do that thing like Nicholas Cage did in "Family Man" where he jumps into an alternate life based on if he had made different decisions... That would be interesting, but if given a chance, I probably woundn't do it. I mean, would I really want to see some other life I *could* have had - what if I really, really like it and can't have it?

[vampman]

I would have to agree with everyone.

THere is no way I would want to be a teen again! While I was well liked throughout my High School years there was always someone that had something against you. High School kids can be very cruel. Why I laughed in Shrek 3 when they were all at a that High School and Donkey asks Hey Shrek! Where are we? Shrek then says lets see, jitter, sweaty palms must be High School!

[una]

*sniffing, deep breath* I LOVE new thread smell! Thanks Pel!

Good thoughts, TwiMom. I think to relive my teen years over in this day and age without the knowledge I have at this point is a no questions asked, no hesitation, resounding NO!! But to go back (a la Peggy Sue), I'm not sure. High school was really difficult for me because I was changing, fighting the change, developing my personality and fighting my horrible self-esteem. I know if I went back knowing what I know now, it'd be entirely different and I'm not sure I would end up the same person. I like and love who I am now. It was a hard road, but I'm here and I'm not willing to sacrifice it for anything.

Question of the Day: If you could be immortal-esque (a BDB warrior lifetime, 1000 years plus or minus) in this reality would you do it? No, I don't think (being the empathic person that I am) so. I don't know how I could survive loosing family and friends over and over or *shivers* my hubby. I think I would end up isolating myself and that would be one hell of a lonely existence (I'm reminded of TSoS in a way).

[Nena]

And to continue the conversation . . .
If given the chance to be a teenager again, but only if you were a teenager in today's world, would you do it?

I will have to agree that being a teenager is hardship but I had a blast! I can see how things are different now in terms of communications and stuff but I think if given the chance I would. Don't get me wrong. I am enjoying my late twenties (I know, I don't quite belong here yet) but I would take another chance at the teen years. We experience so much during those days, those years define who we are now (more than childhood, IMHO) and social life was awesome. Yeah, I would hate to go through the awkwardness of puberty again and the teen drama ( me vs. parents, me vs. friends, me vs. the world, etc) but besides that, heck yeah!

Question of the Day: If you could be immortal-esque (a BDB warrior lifetime, 1000 years plus or minus) in this reality would you do it?
100% agree with Una. The death of my loved ones would crush me.

[twilightmom]

Don't get me wrong. I am enjoying my late twenties (I know, I don't quite belong here yet) but I would take another chance at the teen years.

I wonder if you will still feel the same 10 years from now (when you are MY age ). I think back 10 years ago and I may have answered differently. Nena, you are in a different stage in your life that I was at your age, but being that much closer to your teens, I wonder if that influences your answer? Hmmm...

QOTD: I agree with Nena and Una, I wouldn't want to go though life alone - think Highlander... that would be sad. However, if you had your own network of long-living companions, like in BDB, and really didn't interact with the "outside" world, then I would say yes... Because all of my mates would be in the same boat I am!

[BlueStarlight]

New thread! *jumping for joy*

Man, there have been some thought-provoking questions as of late.

As for what decade would I most likely have fit into growing up... I can't really say. I had such a sheltered life, as most of you know. I was a teen in the late 80s to 90s- this was the time I was in a strict church. We were not allowed to watch movies, listen to any kind of music other than Christian, hang around kids that didn't go to our church, etc. Now, my parents had not grown up this way; they had a whole 'nother life before joining this church, and our relatives just didn't understand it. I lived for those rare short trips to Mississippi or Chicago to hang out with cousins and watch movies and listen to music. I rebelled as a teen because of the strict nature of that church; had a wicked-bad attitude for about a year or so before I finally came to my senses and realized that life is just easier if I do what they say. My mom raised me to be a woman who takes care of her man, her house, who loves her family and friends. I take care of the house, and hubby takes care of the rest. My mom taught me how to cook, bake (from scratch), sew, cross-stitch, clean a house, scrub floors, do laundry, garden (precious little, since there was just never time in highschool, but I remember the garden out back when I was young); my parents paid for piano lessons, even when we couldn't afford them, because it taught me self-discipline to do something over and over and over until I got it right. I grew up with a house full of guys, and I learned to look after them, and they always stood up for me. Getting married was the easiest transition of my life... so whatever decade all that puts me in, *laughing* I guess I'll take it.

Would I take the chance to be a teenager in the present-day world??? Oh, Lord, forgive the words that are going through my head right now. I don't cuss (usually), but I would have to quite firmly agree with the "HELL NO" so many of you have posted. I've been thinking about highschool a LOT lately, as I'm planning my class's reunion for June. In talking to classmates over the past year, I've recalled many memories, some of which I'd forgotten completely; we talked about the struggles of growing up in that church, and how it's affected our adult lives. I did indeed have peer pressure in that private Christian school. I cannot imagine what it would have been like on the outside, going to a public school. Kids can be cruel, for sure... but rich Deacon kids can be even more cruel. I was part of the "middle crowd," not an out-and-out rebel to authority (because they got preached at during Open Assembly and in church, and who wants THAT?), but not a goody-goody spiritual kid either. I can't imagine what kinds of things kids of today face; there are no more teens in my family, and my step-niece and nephew are pretty good.
I wouldn't go back to being a teen at any point in time, no matter how much money was offered me, or what "wrongs" they promised to "right," or take the opportunity to do things over or change things. I'd leave things as they were, because they have made me who I am.

Yes, Twi-mom, I think that now that I've gone past 30 years old, I have enough distance to say that. Ten years ago, yes, I'd have said "sure, I'd love to go back to being a teen." I would have been 23 then, not quite an adult, almost out of college, about to get married, making changes that would alter the course of my life (or keep it on the Master Course, however you look at it, I was still scared out of my skin). It's not that I wasn't prepared for life, it's just that it was new territory, and I was in charge of making decisions, when for the previous decade I did what the authority told me to do. At 23, going back to being a teen seemed like the easier thing to do. Now, being 33, I like where my life is and how it's gone, and I wouldn't trade it for anything in that hormone-raging, coma-like life we called "teenhood."