Taser Burns

My teens were focusing on a game of Minecraft as the US CAPITOL building was being overrun.

I heard myself say, “Your world is changing and y’all are playing Minecraft.” They giggled. One responded, acknowledged me, my statement and picked up the TV remote. The other looked away from the computer screen taking only a glance at the TV and says, “Don’t worry Nana, it’s just another day in Trump’s America.”

I had no words. I can say that I understood their apathy. You see I grew up in Alabama in the sixties. Images of white supremacy aren’t foreign to me, though I’m often taken aback when they turn on each other. Think about it, you hear the phrase black on black crime, but have you ever heard about white on white crime? Oh sure the phrase “white collar” as apposed to “blue collar” rings familiar, but mentions of white crime doesn’t seem to require any adjectives.

I watched my kids go about their day to day lives, glancing at the TV but only making matter of fact comments about it all. I asked the nine year old how he felt about what he was seeing in the news. He shook his head and asked if Ossoff or Warnock were in danger. (The 2 are akin to super heroes to him). I shook my head. He said,”Trump did this right?” I shrugged. He shrugged and said, “He’s not a good person, Nana.”

It was then I decided to not speak with them about it, purposefully. I made the decision to listen and answer questions where needed. Honestly? They had more to say about the woman tackling the teen over a phone than they did about the insurrection. It seems to be more tangible for them. They see the situation as seriously comical because they know affluenza when they see it. It is their generation’s version of supremacy. (Can I say Selah here)

Today’s teens, pre-teens and young adults are Obama era thinkers and agents for change. Mine believe that they are the change in their collective sphere of influence.

Listen to your teens, pre-teens, young adults. They are as we were growing up over the decades. They have thoughts and dreams and ambitious ideas. Try to see the world as they see it and interject course corrections when allowed, asked for or needed. The world, post Trump’s presidency, is their reality long after we’ve departed.