"When I was your age..."

[kellinator]

Yesterday I was eating my lunch (spinach salad with lots of kidney beans) in the cafeteria when I noticed the table next to me.

They were four teenage boys, apparently attending a debate camp. They were animatedly chatting about where they wanted to go to college, their experiences on debate teams, their strong opinions on politics. (One said he'd used "George W. Bush is a moron" as an entire debate strategy, and another said that missile defense only worked in his Civ III game.)

I sat there and listened to them and it was like looking back into my past, when I was a young teen going to TIP and meeting kids who spoke my language. And for the first time in my life, I desperately wanted to be a teenager again, all full of idealism and great dreams.

I wanted to tell them "when I was your age I was just like you," but I knew they wouldn't understand. So I sat, and I listened, and I remembered, and I blessed them as they went on their way.

Comments

[metaphorge.livejournal.com]

There's no reason to ever [i]stop[/i]....

[atomicnumber51.livejournal.com]

That sounds like me and cryslyn at Paula (The gifted girls program at St. Mary's college we went to (and actually met at) - same kind of thing as TIP) :-)

Idealism and stuff are great, but I have no desire to live with everything else that came with being a teenager. i.e. the minefield that was my HS social life, and, of course getting the hang of dating. once is enough.

[kellinator.livejournal.com]

You've got it figured out? And when were you intending to share this information?

[atomicnumber51.livejournal.com]

Um, well, see I just call up Chris... nevermind. ;-)

[m0usegrrl.livejournal.com]

hee!! believe me, i know how tempting it is to launch into "back in the day" stories around young'uns. i generally refrain from doing so, though, because 1) it's usually better that they learn on their own [and fun to watch them muddle through the same issues and make the same mistakes you did], and 2) by keeping my cake-hole shut, i don't "date" myself -- so i get the added bonus that people tend to think i'm rather a bit younger than i actually am. less incriminating evidence and such. =)

[polychromatic22.livejournal.com]

yeah, there's generally few things more annoying than having some old jerk come along and tell you that the unique individual experience you are experiencing is in fact just part of the pattern everybody goes through.

[musicwolf.livejournal.com]

I always play the "that didn't used to be there" game. But recently I learned that it doesn't take much to stay young at heart...aren't kids wonderful, and I'm trying to as much as possibile...that's one reason why I need to game again, it kept my imagination flowing.