Out shopping this afternoon, I saw a family that, to my eye, said everything there was to say about generational self-image. Mom and Dad, who looked to be about my age or a little older, both wore faded jeans and eclectic t-shirts. Mom’s hair, chestnut brown streaked with snow white, was in a single thick braid to her waist; dad had a neat iron-grey ponytail.
The kid looked to be somewhere around 17. He had carpenter jeans a size too big, a hoodie…and a short, neat classic men’s hair-cut that would have looked perfectly normal on any professional. He also had the classic “My parents are an embarrassment” slouch.
I kept a straight face until I was outside, but it wasn’t easy.