Author: Matthew Groff

  • Stupid Boomers

    I am not a Millennial… I’m Gen X, and for that, I accept that I am just the middle child of all this generational stuff between Boomers and my younger siblings, the aforementioned Millennials. But if I may stick up for the younger group, there is one thing that Boomers have been saying for a while about Millennials that is, well, just sort of stupid.

    Whenever I hear a Boomer get on the high horse of pointing out what is wrong with the kids today, they hit on the laundry list that all old people use when the complain about younger people; too self-absorbed, don’t value hard work, don’t care about the important things… Now, the favorite one I hear all the time goes along the lines of, “…and they all got participation trophies, and were told they were special, so they don’t know how to deal with hardship.”

    Hey, you dumb shit Boomer, who the hell do you think was handing out those trophies? Your stupid generation came up with the idea of participation trophies. It wasn’t a bunch of five year olds at the final game of their soccer season going, “We really should ask our parents to hand out something that includes all of us, not just the winners.” No, it was you Boomers sitting around, not wanting to feel bad that some kids will lose. Now, all these years later, you have begun to regret that decision, and you have started blaming your kids.

    Maybe our grandparents were right about our parents; they don’t care about the important things.

  • Just a Thought

    I wonder if my liberalism has cornered me into not being able to compromise and get things done?

    This is a thought that has been bouncing around my head of late, which also makes me think that I have become part of the problem instead of the solution. What I feel is important politically keeps becoming more and more redline, and unyielding, and my gut reaction is that I am being pushed this direction by the opposition, not that I want to go there.

    Let’s use climate change as an example. An enormous issue that I feel demands immediate action, and if nothing else, we should make moves to stop making it worse. The conservative viewpoint is that it doesn’t exist… and this is where I say that I feel cornered, because where do I go? If the other side refuses to believe that the issue exists, how do I make progress? Thusly, in turn, I feel that I have to do more and be louder to make the issue be addressed, which in turn makes me less likely to engage with the other side. Wait… I think I just became a victim of my own issue…

    Let me try this another way…

    There is part of me that knows to get things done, I have work with different people who hold different viewpoints, and find common ground and consensus. Then at the same time, I want to give up and say that the other side will never agree with me, so I might as well go full blow for all of my convictions. At the end of the day, nothing gets done.

  • The Tax Overhaul

    I have never understood people that vote against their own self-interest, and I believe that is what people are doing that vote Republican. I try to circle that square, as how someone who is working or middle class, would vote Republican, and then celebrate when that party gives huge tax breaks to the rich and corporations. It is another form of redistribution of wealth, going from the poor to the rich. Yet, Republican voters cannot stand when the redistribution of wealth goes the other way, in their favor.

    Having said that, I do also believe what LBJ said about politics, and I know that I’m paraphrasing here, but it’s all about power; those that want it, and those that don’t want to give it up. It’s a very base and cynical way of looking at things, but in that prism, politics does make more sense to me.

    The tax over haul; nothing but power. It is ensuring that one group get a leg up over the other one. This is an action to dismantle the New Deal and Great Society. Thoes orginal programs were nothing but a shift in power in their own rights. It took the money from the very wealthy and the very few, and gave it to everyone else. It was a power shift that clearly said who was most important to the government.

  • Old v New Nerds

    The first movie I ever saw in the theatre was “Empire Strikes Back.” I was four, and the experience was life changing. The excitement of going to a movie, sitting in a theatre, and sharing the moment in a communal setting. Then there was the movie, which set my imagination free in a million different directions. I remember my father and brother trying to explain “Star Wars” to me so I would understand what was happening. What I remember most was the importance of friendship, and having the courage to face your fears.

    And then I didn’t see that movie again for nearly 5 years, but it was a very important part of my like. I had “Star Wars” toys, and books, and talked about it incessantly with friends. I remember once being at a friend’s house, and all of us guys discovered that in this house, they had a copy of “Empire” and we stopped everything to watch it. (That was back when a VHS of a popular movie could cost $90.) To be a fanatic with the source material was difficult. It relied on memory and debate.

    Now, I have a kid, who loves “Star Wars,” and she can watch Empire anytime she wants. Her fanatic desire to see the source can be met anytime she wants. Having noticed this, I wonder what affect this instant access to source material has had on fandom. Clearly it has exploded in the last 15 years, and did home video have anything to do with it?

  • The Holiday Season

    For me, the whole “Holiday Season” starts with Halloween, then Thanksgiving, Christmas, and ends with New Years. The big four, and now with a kid, they take on a different meaning and purpose.

    But there are the old annoyances, and that would be the car commercials. And I’m talking about the higher end car commercials. With the people waking up Christmas morning with a silver (and they are all silver or white) car parked in the drive way, and being so over whelmed and amazed at this gift. And there is a big red bow on top of the car.

    The two things that annoy me about the commercials, other than the fact that I will never own a luxury car, is how is the car delivered in the driveway whereas the gifted car recipient is unaware that it is there, and two, where do they get the big red bows? Does the car dealership give them out complementary along with the purchase of the car? The dipping sauce to the car’s chicken nugget, so to speak.

    In my mind, I see the story of the wife being confounded, after having purchased the Lexus December to Remember sedan, as she is unable to secure the perfect red bow for the car. “It’s the bow that will tie the gift together for Kevin,” I hear her confessing to her friend on Facetime as she races to another Party City, hoping that they are not sold out of bows.

    But having now done a google search for “big red bow car commercial” I have discovered this site. At least they are made in the USA.