The Awkward Apocalypse

Almost two decades ago* the world was about to experience something that could only be described as *deepens voice and speaks in a strong, yet whispery tone* The Awkward Apocalypse. It consists of kids wishing they were born in the 1980s, wearing endless tie-dye shirts, listening to The Beatles and supporting big hair; it consists of kids growing up with the best cartoons and wishing to be back in those days every second of the present day; it consists of a lot of love, a pinch of hate and a  rather large amount of respect for bacon.

This phenomenon, to those who are only familiar with penny sweets and a life without internet, is my generation.

My generation is a huge contradiction. We are named the generation of no responsibility and yet we have endless pressure piled on our shoulders; we are a generation with a better outlook on life than any other generation before when it comes to any disgusting phobia or outlook but yet we are named the devils of the human world.

Welcome to my generation.

Kids are "growing up too fast": acting old before their age, whilst they think like Peter Pan: wishing they could never grow up. Everyone wants to look older, years older than their real age and yet when "older" is reached, they regret the days they craved for adulthood. Then there are those wanting to stay in one place, wanting to not progress to the next natural step in adolescence but are forced to live a life a few years older. You go on the bus and there's no way that a thirteen year old is a thirteen year old: an adult fare, you'll be charged. Mr. Bus Driver, it really was just mascara; she really was just thirteen. No one's to blame, but in the confusion of kids making themselves appear older and adults believing it, you're making us out of pocket!

Why, you ask, are we inclined to live this way? There is no real answer, my confused friend. We're talkin' 'bout my generation.

We seem to long for independence, to be able to live like adults in a not-yet-adult-but-so-close-body.

"The 'Awkward Apocalypse', you say?" Oh, where to start... Here lies the awkward turtle, the "awkward moment when" and the "OMG AWKWARD" years. Oh you're in for an awkward treat. "Why is it awkward?" Kids of 2050, you have just hit the nail on the head. Why is it awkward? I have a theory: We spent such a short but memorable while living the Kid Life like our parents; playing with toys and enjoying the real world, hitting twigs against a tree for an hour straight, that when internet existed, we were overwhelmed. We were the first generation to experience it, to really succumb to the powers that drew us in: online games; instant messaging; the programme Paint (my personal favourite). This made our minds close down to social interaction, thereby isolating real life situations from our capacity of understanding. In turn, anything that was slightly more out there than we were used to was deemed "awkward." How very awkward, indeed.

An apocalypse is "the complete final destruction of the world." In this case, it's the destruction of innocence.

Irony. We seem to always want to be ironic. I remember finding it "so totes annoying" that people would say "omg" in real life and then thinking, "wait, I'm saying 'totes'". I got so lost in the anger of what's becoming our society that I ignored the fact that I had too. I said (and say) things like "amazeballs" and "lol" ironically so often that it just became part of my vocabulary. Before long I wasn't being ironic anymore. It all became too real.

I, despite our flaws, like my generation. Maybe we're less ignorant to other generations before us because our OTPs are two males but we are less ignorant and more tolerable and that's all that counts and maybe, we find meaning when there isn't any and we don't when there is but here's one thing I know for sure: a lot of the time, we're speaking sense.

We're a confused but wonderful generation

Cartoons & Leg Warmers (the second time around),

The Girl in the Moonlight.

*I'd probably consider the people slotting right into the image of this post were born between 1990 and 2000, give or take a few years.