#266

Michael has raced into adolescence. No question about it. His voice is deeper, his face is changing, his feet are like a hobbit's, and he'll be over 70 inches tall any minute. The problem I'm having isn't Michael's sprint out of childhood, but my feeling that nothing goes any further, myself included, after junior high. No country or culture or government – no man to be sure; I know very little about women – ever exits adolescence once it's entered. From here on, nothing changes. Look at what motivates our governments, corporations, and media. It's terribly simple, and I sound terribly cynical, and yet... junior high was exciting! Full of novelty, hard work, and accomplishment, deeper friendships and girlfriendships, more elaborate education (both academically and socially) and way-better athletics. Naturally, there was nervousness and a little bullying, but only enough to spice things appropriately (perhaps I was lucky). So I'm not being entirely negative. A favorite writer, David Foster Wallace, mentions something similar, calling U.S. culture in particular "both developmentally and historically adolescent." Hard to argue. And yet again, I just watched a presidential debate and refuse to disrespect any of the candidates. (In front of M 'n' m, at least; I made a few cracks to others.) Why? It doesn't feel right. I'm not running for President; I'm not at a podium in front of millions of viewers. I want M 'n' m to respect the scope and scale of certain things, even if, in so many ways, we never really graduate adolescence.