Our community ages badly, loves often, regrets little, party’s wildly, suffers much, screams loudly, plays well, works hard and grows up kicking, debating and pleading.
Many of us are stuck in a time warp, remembering what we it was like in our favourite haunts, how things used to be, how amazing we were. My father used to say, ‘The older I get the better I was..’ Here am I realizing what he was getting at. Let’s do a little reality check: six queens whose years are counted in dozens to so than be counted on a single hand sit for a boozy lunch in Bohemia. In their minds they are modern, up-to-date and ‘with it.’
Between bottles, Iphones interrupt discussions; Grndr beeps between glasses. Increasing levels of intoxication lead to, ‘The way we were…’ and ‘When I was a kid…’ ‘Back home in…’ until pre-War Gen A thinks it is Gen X, and Gen Y are not that much younger than us, and we are alike in our communication tools, methods and language. Some people really ought to be slapped just to remind them that reality has nothing to do with using a similar language or abbreviation when texting.
The generations are miles for the older and kilometres for younger apart. It is not the method, but the process that divides how each arrives at a conclusion, outcome or to completes a task. So a message sent is received very differently. A directive to the younger is firstly questioned, then checked in Cyber Space prior to attempting it; should the younger feel like so doing at that point in time.
Somehow, the wiser are surprised by this. Should they be? Of course not, they just forgot what it was like to be a trend-setting star in a dull and boring world in the previous century. Gays and lesbians fought so hard to be heard, gain equality, have basic human freedoms – and yet we forget we had a great time, and looked fabulous whilst doing it. The issues facing the Gen Y members of our community are not different, they just have a better framework and network to interact with others and discuss issues they face. It is sad that additional tools do not alleviate instantly many of the growing up, finding one’s own identity crises we face.
At this point, we turn a complete circle. Same issues, different generation, same answers still missing their target, as the tools leave out the human or personal relationship required. I call it a basic human need – alongside shelter, food, movement and glamorous clothing. The encouragement to participate in a sporting club is very simple: from the relationships within the club or teams we know the ability to enjoy three of the basic human needs in one place. To an autocratic German, joining a team from one of the many on offer at Team Sydney is a no brainer – it is a model of efficiency: www.teamsydney.org.au
