Since graduating college, living on my own and getting a "big girl" job, I've noticed a huge change in my perspective.
It seems like every time my best friend and I go out, I end up seeing an obnoxious group of teens and asking, "We didn't really act like that when we were that age, did we?"
I'm guessing it's part of becoming an adult when I turn on the radio and am astonished at the newest musical fad.
But, my parents said the same thing about the music I listen to.
I was in my car a few days ago, and "Call Me Maybe" by Carly Rae Jepson came on the radio, and my reaction was, "They call this music? Stop this nonsense!"
I grew up on Guns N' Roses, Metallica, Green Jelly and The Eagles. As a teenager I moved onto more alternative music, like Papa Roach, Good Charlotte and P!nk.
What's the difference between the Justin Bieber's of today and the P!ink's of yesterday?
The music had meaning! Someone could relate to the words, and even gave a sense of "I'm not alone".
Justin Bieber sings about wanting to be someone's boyfriend and sings the word "Baby" repeatedly.
When I was a teenager, music was about the music. Not many people cared who was dating who, and there definitely were no "Seliebers". Really?
Another sign of growing up, is I sometimes have to look up text acronyms.
LSHMSFO (Laughing so hard my sombrero fell off) is my favorite so far. I saw it on a social media site, and I just stared at it trying to figure out what it could possibly stand for.
I still frequent the "LOL" and "OMG" and "ppl" because when I started texting in junior high you had so many characters to put in the text message before they charged you for a second text message.
My first Nokia phone went by units. Calls were one unit, and texts were half-units. Dad would notice when you used that half-unit for a text you shouldn't have been sending in the first place.
Cell phones were strictly for emergencies and being picked up from basketball practice.
I saw someone post the other day that they were, "Totes jelly".
LOL. What?
What kind of jelly, exactly? I'm more of a fan of strawberry, but not if you are carrying them around all the time.
Another I've heard a lot is "that (stuff) cray". You can't just add a 'z' to make the sentence complete?
I'm sure a lot of people are thinking, ummm weren't you just a teenager not long ago? I even have a coworker who says he has socks older than me.
I guess I've just reached that transition into full-blown adulthood. Don't get me wrong, I'm still about as random as you can get, but I understand the importance of full sentences.
I'm no longer trying to confuse my parents about the meaning of a conversation with a friend over an instant messaging service. Honestly, they couldn't care less anymore, and most chat systems are outdated.
I even encountered my favorite songs from my youth being played on a "Flight Back into Time" radio series.
Sabrina is a staff writer for the Greene County Daily World and can be reached by email at swestfall@gcdailyworld.com or by telephone at 847-4487.
