TheNarrowRoadPursued

The weather yesterday was exquisite.  I had the privilege of being outside for a while and engaged in an aimless walk.  During my time “out” I came across this,

Now I understand the investment of some $60,000 (give or take “ten g’s”) might make the owner a little skittish about parking lot damage, but I say, “Too bad!”  If the car is too valuable to use only one parking space in a completely FULL parking lot, the owner probably should not be patronizing places where valet parking is not mandatory.

The photo is a window into an entire generation and this horrifies me.  While this vehicle is most likely owned by an “X-er”or a “Boomer” The people our culture is currently making are all about parking in two spaces because, “They deserve it.”  Don’t believe me?  Take up Generation iY, by Dr. Tim Elmore.

Elmore’s book takes an inside view of the generation coming, allowing those of us ahead in years to confront what kind of mess we are creating.  Here are a few of far too many quotable, quotes:

In 2007, the American College Health Association surveyed the largest randomized sample of college students since its inception.  Their study revealed that:

• 94 percent of students reported feeling overwhelmed by their lifestyles.
• 44 percent said they felt so depressed it was almost difficult to function.
• Almost 10 percent had considered suicide in the past year.

In the early 1950s…only 12 percent of teens aged fourteen to sixteen agreed with the statement ‘I am an important person.’  By the late 1980s, an incredible 80 percent–almost seven times as many–claimed they were important.

These kids really do desire to change the world; they just don’t have what it takes to accomplish their lofty dreams.  When the work becomes difficult, they change their minds and move on to something else.  The new term for them is “slactivists”–they are both slackers and activists.

60 percent of college graduates return home with no plan.

The [Michigan] university’s Institute for Social for Social (sic) Research looked at 72 studies that gauged empathy among 14,000 students over 30 years.  Empathy has been in a steep decline, especially since 2000.  The research finds that students today display 40% less empathy than students in the 1980s and 1990s.  Spokesperson Sara Konrath said one reason students are less empathetic may be that people are having fewer face-to-face interactions, communicating instead through social media such as Facebook and Twitter.

And since Mother’s Day is this upcoming Sunday…

The day after Mother’s Day 2006 USA Today carried an article on what young people had given their moms for this special day. Thousands had decided to give themselves gifts in honor of their mothers!  The gifts ranged from getting a haircut to putting money in their own bank account to cleaning up their apartment.  And the mothers were pleased with those gifts!  The children played such a central role in their own happiness that mothers felt good about the vicarious gift…By overemphasizing self-esteem and underemphasizing (sic) qualities like unselfishness and responsibility, adults made it easy for these kids to be consumed with self.

The book is not all gloom and doom. Dr. Elmore does try to find the “bright side” in the iY generation and offers many opportunities for the “elders” to maximize this generation’s unique abilities.  From my cultural perch, unless we “adults” quickly find some integrity and discover the ability to impart and imbue wisdom to our children, this generation may just be the next-to-last American generation.

Everybody knows “Z” is the end.

“Hear this, all peoples! Give ear, all inhabitants of the world, both low and high, rich and poor together! My mouth shall speak wisdom; the meditation of my heart shall be understanding. ” (Psalm 49:1–3, ESV)