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I want to talk this week about how the younger generation has no respect for the older generation. The younger kids coming up have no respect for the people who have been there, done that sort of thing. I would be a lot better off in life if I had actually listened to what older, wiser people had said to me. Instead, I had to work my ass off and hustle through life when it doesn't have to be like that. I just closed my ears and said I knew everything, and I was like Fuck all of you, I don't need any of you.
I see these kids come up and all of a sudden they know it all, and they don't know a goddamn thing. They're very rude and very disrespectful, and I see the way the younger kids treat the people who have been around a long time in the area around the Vagabond. If you take a minute and talk to one of the homeless guys around here and ask him what he's seen, he's got knowledge to give. I wish younger people would keep their minds open.
I'm 33 years old and I'm still learning things every day. It's pretty young in the long view of life, but I've also very much humbled myself to the fact that there's so much out there for me to learn. Here's a more specific example: I should have gone to college, but I didn't. I thought I could make plenty of money doing something else, but I should have listened and learned a little more. I'm not doing badly now, but I definitely could have been doing better if I hadn't closed my ears.
I started thinking about this when I hit 29, 30. If I had known then what I know now, my life would be a little bit different. I may not be working at a club, a lot of things could be different. This sounds depressing, but it's true. I've gotta be sensitive every now and then -- I just can't call everyone a jackass. Hey, I have a fucking heart.
Basically, the moral of this is, keep an open mind about what older people have to say. They've seen more and been through more, and they have something to offer you. Don't just say, Fuck off, you don't know what you're talking about. Take your time and listen, and give them the respect that they deserve.
Five Albums I'm Listening to This Week: 1) Mean Season, the complete discography. Not the Mean Season with the fucking guys from the Seattle bands, the Mean Season from California. 2) Joy Division, Closer. 3) Fear, The Record. 4) EPMD, Back in Business. 5) Public Enemy, Fear of a Black Planet.
Quote of the Week: I wrote this one. "I don't get it. We spend one half of our life trying to grow up way too fast, then the other half trying to recapture our youth."
--Brooklyn
(Photo by Justin Namon)
