Never Again

During high school, you really really care about things, usually to an absurd degree. It all seems to mean more - friendship, social status, wins, losses, ups & downs, change & stasis. Everything is endowed with an outsized importance. I remember having VERY STRONG FEELINGS about the most esoteric/inane shit: the comparative roster strengths of Lookout Records vs. Epitaph, Curtis Martin's future with the Patriots, whether chicken cutlet day at the dining hall was overrated, etc. This is the age when you're hardwired to life itself, often at a detriment to your psychological health. But it's this same undiluted passion that's driving the survivors from Parkland to make gun control an unavoidable national issue. They're pushing politicians in a way I haven't seen before, whipping up hell on social media, dominating the airwaves, and taking to the streets. The kids from Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School and their generation are going to be the ones to change things. They're going to succeed where Millennials, Gen X-ers (like myself), and Baby Boomers have failed. God bless 'em. The kids are alright.