but, it really was…

i’m gonna try and bring another expression back from the depths of eye-rolling…

it was a different time

i had a conversation with a couple of folks out of west texas the other day that are barely old enough to buy beer. we were talking about various things from back in the 1990’s and such (related to the tattoo and piercing industry) when i said, “to use an expression your generation hates mine to use, it really was a different time”.

the guy smiled – the girl eye rolled. and they freaked out when i caught it and replied, “fuck you and your eye roll, dear – it actually was, you realize, right?”

and she looked up.

i continued, “here’s how i feel your generation should view things – yes, it was a different time. no, it’s not fair to hold statements made back in 1993 to 2023 standards. how, in the ever loving fuck, can you possibly know how words are going to impact culture and people in thirty fucking years? you can’t. it’s impossible. back when i was a shaggy haired college radio kid i couldn’t have envisioned smart phones, the internet, or ‘they’ returning to being a single pronoun. but it all happened. at least two of those three your generation has never known a world without. you can’t even fathom it. that being said, while my generation can use ‘it was a different time’ to justify or even excuse some of the shit that was said back then, they CAN NOT use it to justify saying or doing that shit today. and feel free to use those examples – ‘it was different, but you also didn’t have internet or your iPhone – you live in w a world where you DO have the internet, and your iPhone, but it also means you can’t say (fill in offensive statement here), so there’s some give and take.’ you can’t have all the 2023 luxuries without also having 2023 standards. ”

and they smiled and nodded. passing on the knowledge!

now if only my generation would actually follow this…