I am such a jaded gen-Xer. I have all the classic symptoms of it. I am cynical and sarcastic, I love Schoolhouse Rock and all things 80�s, I learned the Alphabet and how to count from Sesame Street, and I�m patiently waiting for all the baby boomers to retire so we can inherit the earth. That�s what we�ve all been told for so many years� that there are more of them than there are of us, and eventually� when they get old and start to leave the workforce, we�ll all have our pick of the good jobs. The world will need us, there�s going to be a huge void created when they all start getting old at once and start retiring. None of us really believe it, we�re too cynical, but we wait for it nonetheless. I think that�s the only thing that keeps those of my generation going. I know so many who have university degrees and forty thousand dollars in student debt, and are working menial jobs in coffee shops and fast-food restaurants, retail stores and even as farm labour. This contributes to the cynicism that I think was already naturally present� we�ve been raised by a bunch of ex-hippies who distrusted the previous generation and promised us that they�d do better for us. I don�t think they did any worse by us than their parents did for them, but I fail to see how it�s that much better. I doubt we�ll do much better for our children, either.

That isn�t to say that we are doomed as a whole. I really believe that eventually, we�ll live in the kind of world every human being dreams of� I just think it�ll take longer than anybody suspects. It certainly won�t happen in my lifetime, nor in the lifetime of anyone currently alive. We do learn, it�s just a painfully slow process. All we can do is the best we can, and hope each step brings us a little closer� we hope that those coming after us will remember where we�ve been and keep going.