Generation Gap
by Marty Lewinter
Though I have older and younger friends, each a generation apart from me, I do not experience a significant generation gap with either group. I have been asked, in particular, why I befriend some of my college students half my age. The answer is simple -- I love math, science, chess, classical music, karate, philosophy, etc. -- timeless threads that weave a common blanket of friendship. That my young friends may not have seen a Bugs Bunny cartoon involving the Martian who wished to blow up the Earth doesn't raise a wall between us. Neither does the fact that my older friends don't enjoy some of the rock tunes or video games that I do.
While my young friends usually don't know nearly as much mathematics or music theory as I do, they make it up in enthusiasm, energy, and exuberant 'wow's! It is a pleasure having diner discussions with them. Thy remind me of great experiences that I had in some of my initial introductions to beautiful things like the integral of calculus, the balancing of a chemical equation or Bernoulli's Law which accounts for the lift force that lifts a jet plane.
I experience a kind of 'generation gap' with people of my generation who are lefty-liberals, modern artists, post-modernists, man-hating environmentalists, PC'ers who want to rewrite the English language - the list goes on!
So I shall continue enjoying my friendships and continue drawing wonderful inspiration from them. The criterion isn't age, anymore than it is skin-color.
Discuss this Article (7 messages)
|
