A Gen-X Rip Van Winkle

摘要

Ever read the story of rip van winkle? These days, I'd recommend it to anyone. The story is one of those uniquely American folk tales, about a work-shy gentle-man fanner who falls asleep under a tree—for 20 years. When he awakes, he finds that the world is a very different place. I read the story as a young boy, and it wasn't until recently that I began to have some inkling of what poor Bip must have been feeling the day he finally opened his eyes and rejoined the world. I'm a 22-year-old freshman at a small New England liberal-arts college. I take classes in subjects like writing and sociology. The school newspaper I write for is filled with aspiring muckrak-ers, and most people here followed Teddy Kennedy's re-election bid with enthusiasm. A casual outside observer might say I fit the mold of the left-wing, out-of-touch, spotted-owl-saving, liberal-loving college student. A stereotypical Generation Xer suffering from a short bout of college-induced idealism, right?