Maybe Now

Sometimes at night, I think of things I did in my youth. I remember one of my roomies in college saying, “If you keep carrying on like that you will be dead by the time you hit 40.”

Whelp, I’m 71 and he is deceased. Life is funny like that.

I guess the pony keg in the fridge, the weed, or my occasional partaking of hallucinogens may have led my roomie to his conclusion. Watching the young protesters for George Floyd takes me back to a time when my generation thought we could change the world. “Stop the war! We are all created equal,” was our battle cry.

Music was our escape and our generation had the music. We had the greatest music ever (sorry for stealing your line Trump) and most of all had hopes and ideals fueled by the orchestrations playing in our heads. We were going to be different, we were going to change the world.

I don’t know for sure what happened, but I know how this new group of protesters feel. Alive!!! Decades can slowly kill the spirit of much-needed change. You work, raise a family, and before you know it become entrenched in a system that swallows all ideals, hopes, and dreams. You become one of the minions. Fine liquors and fancy cigars take the place of hallucinogens and weed. Make that money. Don’t worry about the less fortunate. Protect your assets for the fear that the less fortunate will get a share of your so-called wealth. Life changes us. It sometimes makes us lose focus. We unwittingly become selfish and look down on others who were not dealt a fair hand. I think and hope something is happening here. We have a chance for change with this new generation of youth.

I worry the old regime may do something under the guise of righteousness to destroy the hope in this new generation of changers. Old ways die very hard, but this new group may have the savvy and know-how to pull off equality for all. My generation tried but couldn’t sustain our goals.

My one surviving college roommate texted and said, “We should only have to live through 1968 once.”

If you look closely, you may see him in the above picture. I remember him returning home limping because some old guy hit him with his car. I guess even back then people were against change. Humans seem to be very slow on the uptake. I am hopeful the new generation can follow through and succeed where we miserably failed.