Spying on the World.

The original plan, quite frankly (or Hilda-ly?), had been to leave a comment on my buddy Shawn's comical (and so, so true) blog post today about chain emails, found here. But then my comment started to grow in a way most Hollywood actors never do. (Really, is being short that much of a prerequisite for stardom? My dream is in trouble.) And so, I feel compelled to pay homage to Shawn's commentary with digital scribbles of my own. Chicken scratches on pixelated paper. And perhaps, at my eyes.

The long-and-short of the post if you didn't click above (though you really should -- for me, Shawn's sense of humour is akin to a Ferris wheel, alight, set against the darkness of a cool fall fair evening) is a comment about the ridiculous nature of some chain emails, specifically ones hearkening back to a supposedly superior time. You know, back in the day. When you trudged 20 miles to school. In the snow. With only one boot because your parents were too poor to afford the full pair. And layaway didn't exist yet. Only to find that the school had burned down. And the subsequent frostbite from having to walk back home disqualified you from fighting for your country. Or from your NHL dream.

So, according to the email, you're pretty special if you survived any decade from the 30's to the 70's? I'm thinking 50 years is a pretty substantial sample pool. Particularly considering that most people born prior are likely no longer with us and that those born after may not yet have had the opportunity to make their mark on the world (I do, for the record, fall within that transcendental, so-called golden age). We survived all of these bad things, like our mothers smoking and drinking while pregnant? Well, we may have, but I'm thinking many didn't, which is likely how we ended up identifying these things as less than ideal activities to pursue. Logic, people. In 50 years, we may very well be saying that we survived using microwaves, too. Or not.

It seems to me that these generations saw fit to discriminate against people unlike themselves, notably in the form of segregation in the U.S., Japanese internment in Canada and, oh wait, something called the Holocaust. I guess, in some ways, depending on what side of the barriers you found yourself, if you did survive that, you do indeed deserve some kudos.

The early generations also sent their children into wars like WWII, Vietnam and Korea. Surely, wisdom must have flowed freely from the hose water. The atomic bomb? 1945. The Great Depression? 1939. Watergate, the FLQ crisis, Kent State, Disco? How about pushing us toward the consumerist society we are today? I'm not sure how you can give exclusive credit to the risk takers and innovators of those generations -- the explosion of technology in the past couple of decades is unparalleled. For better or for worse. The world's a different animal now. And we must continue to adapt: social Darwinism continues.

Those born in the 80's, 90's and after have more time left to make their mark on the world than I. They are a part of our future. A big part. And I hope they continue to make the world a better place. Cure AIDS or cancer? Help people live longer, or in less pain? Reduce social injustice? I'm thankful to have been born when I was; otherwise I wouldn't be me. Think about it: a fraction of a second different and you wouldn't have been born, edged out by another little swimmer (in the words of Homer -- and not he of Iliad fame -- "Woo hoo"). And I wouldn't have developed according to the constructs of my generation. Life's short, so let's share a pop. I think we'll be fine. As long as you haven't been making out with an avian-bird flu-infected chicken. No?