Post on Associated Content

Here is an article I wrote for Associated Content the day before my birthday. Enjoy!

Tuesday I turn 44 years old. My wife and I went shopping for my gift. We ended up at Wal-Mart buying "God of War" a game for my PS2 Game system which I purchased just a few months ago. It will sit proudly next to my other PS2 games, which include Harry Potter and Lord of the Rings. And a vast collection of computer games.How different my generation are from our parents.You would never have seen either of my parents play video games, especially at the age of 44. I remember when both my parents turned 44, only I didn't know they were 44, they were just old. By 44 my father was wearing white dress shirts and polyester pants, he wore dark socks and hard soled shoes. He went to work, came home and had a Martini. My mother made the dinner, she too wore polyester and drank Martinis, she also did not play video games. My parents talked about health problems, their deaths , and where they would be buried, and what relative would die next, they talked about money a lot ,always money, and the fact that we had none. We would go family events that my fathers company would put on. The other people would also wear dark socks and hard soled shoes, and there were special activities for the kids. If someone slipped in the mud or happen upon a similar unfortunate event everyone would stop for a second, you could fee the panic, oh was he or she hurt, at the brittle age of forty five. We wouldn't stop for ice cream afterwards because my parents were tired. My parents would rarely go to the mall. There was too much walking, they were in their 40s, not as young as they use to be my father would say. They were old, and their bones ached.I am on the tail end of the baby boomers. I do not plan on wearing dark socks or hard sole shoes any time soon. I don't plan on hating rock music or to stop believing in UFOs. I do not intend to stop playing video games. Maybe I'm a little selfish, I think I might have a Peter Pan Complex (afraid to grow up). I wear shorts, T-shirts and sneakers. I did not dress up for work and I do not have a late night Martini. Martinis go with stockings, cheap motel rooms and divorce. Those are things that adults do., and I want no part of adulthood.