Sex, drugs, rock and roll!  A phrase that gained fame in the late 60s and that each generation after that has taken it as their own.  Somehow each one takes it even more seriously than the one before.  And that takes us all to my generation. 

First of all, my best friend and I had not seen each other for a year and a half up to a couple of days.  He lives in Madrid and has come back for two months to spend his vacation with friends and family.  He brought to my attention something I never really realised until he actually mentioned it.  I always thought I was a lost soul, that I belonged to a different time due to my taste in music.  I'm a huge fan of the classics of the contemporary world (by that I mean anything from Sinatra to Queen, from Billie Holiday to Aerosmith).  To tell you the truth, I like everything from the 60s to the 90s, with the exception of the ocasional good song of my time (my time=now).
My best friend pointed out that after a year and a half everyone still only heard the same songs of the same bands, be it alternative, rock, or even reggeaton.  He also mentioned the fact that everyone was closed to giving different music a chance.  Jay (my best friend) had brought some Spanish music, with a gypsy sound to it.  I loved it.  The ones that heard it of our graduating class were bitching about how that music sucked and to a point they nagged for him to change it (to go back to what they wanted to hear).  As I always say, it's ok if you don't like it, but at least give it a chance, learn to appreciatte new things, learn from it, enrich your taste.  And in the end, it's his house, he's entitled to hear whatever the hell he pleases.

Music aside, and taking that last thing I said about being open to try new things; a couple days ago in one of my administration classes, we were shown a presentation made by a Mexican guy with a Japanese background.  He talked about the differences between our culture and the Japanese.  Things so basic that went from us demanding instead of offering to get what we want, to the fact that when we decide to start our own business, we expect to get a brand new car and other luxuries in the first five years of starting it, instead of investing those proffits and waiting ten years more for our company to be larger and strongh enough so we can get the things we wanted.  I, for one, thought the approach was both interesting and accurate (I must say most of the people in my class did).  Once the presentation was over, our professor asked: "Any comments about what we just watched?"  And here comes this girl and says: "Yeah, but Japan has one of the highest suicide rates in the world and they don't say that there".  WTF?  You know what, I'm not even going to go there.  I'll leave the comment to your own judgement.

A couple weeks ago, I started encountering some of the guys of my graduation class.  I come from a "rich kids school" (I'm not one of them thank god, I was there with a scholarship ).  The kids in my school were as shallow as they could be, they were all into looks and honestly they were sheep (sheep=follower).  If one guy said a girl was ugly and didn't like her, the rest agreed without daring to judge (Best example: one of those "ugly ducklings" went to Germany and was hired as a model for ESPRIT).  That class was full of hipocrecy, lack of courage to speak your mind, and looking up to the most stuck up of the bunch.  I, being the crybaby I am, did not shed a single tear during graduation, since I was glad to finally get out of there.  We were living in a bubble, were the world was perfect, there were pretty girls and hot guys around, and that was all that mattered.  Mommy and Daddy gave money left and right without asking questions (I started tutoring when I was 16, and have not asked my parents for a penny for my expenses since then).  And that gives people the right to be assholes.  Well, anyway, you would think that with two years in the real world, were the world is no longer pink and careless, were you need to work and study, were you need to build relationships with people older than you (bosses, professors, and so on), they would have at least changed a bit.  It turns out that it isn't.  Out of my whole graduation class (not big, around 40 people), not even half of them have a job.  Mommy and Daddy still pay for everything.  And most of them still live in that bubble where your only obligation is to pass your courses in the University (no, not to put effort to your studies and get good grades cause that's the only freaking thing you do), date, go out, get stoned, or hammered.  We are supposed to be adults here. 

Come on, we need to get a little balance in our lives.  We need to set priorities.  We need to look at the things that are really important in life.  Mommy and Daddy won't be there forever, and even if you inherit all of their money, if you don't know what the real life looks like, you will not know how to administrate all that cash your parents worked hard for and you'll just waste it. 

I work 44 hours a week (from Monday to Saturday).  I go to the university from Monday to Friday every night up to 8.30pm. I don't get vacations as often as we used to when we were at school.  I pay for all the clothes I want, for everytime I go out, for every single thing I decide to do.  I bought new stuff for myself (bed, tv...) for when I move out of my house.  I paid for my lasik eye surgery ($1130). 

I have a good job (I got promoted three times already in the two years I've worked for my company).  I get good grades (I know so many people that don't do anything but going to study and they flunk)  And you know what?  That gives me more satisfaction than if someone paid for all the things I want.  It makes me take care of them more.  I know where I'm headed to.  I have time to go out with my friends (and with my boyfriend when he was still in El Salvador).  It is possible to work hard and still have time to rest and to have fun.  It just takes an open mind, will and little effort.