The End of an Era
Posted in The Life of the Historian and tagged with Future, Life on August 21, 2009
While I was listening to the radio the other day it hit me. Someone was talking and they said, “Blah blah blah in ’10…”
What? Next year’s 2010? Well, I guess that make since numerically. But that means that it’s the start of a new decade. A new decade is just over 4 months away!
I suppose it shouldn’t be a big deal. Time passes. Our calendar system is arbitrary anyway, there’s nothing special about January 1, 2010 (and yet, that number is hard to type!).
But for me, it’s something more. It’ll be the end of the decade that, more than any other, defined me. I turned 18 in 2000, graduated from high school and went off to college in 2001, graduated from college and moved cross country in 2005, graduated from grad school in 2008, and now in 2009 I became salaried and will start paying off my student debt before the end of the year.
But when January 1, 2010 hits, all that will be a part of a past decade. I guess this must have been what my parents felt when the 80s ended (maybe? but they had 2 not-so-little youngins by then, so they were already more “grown up”). I suppose we all have to go through the getting-older thing, since the alternative is death.
But really, my generation was cheated. Our decade doesn’t even have a name!
Photo by orcmid
August 21st, 2009 at 1:33 am
I know–no one’s ever figured out a tidy way to name the 00′s to 09′s. I’m kind of surprised!
This decade defined me, too–went from college to career to falling in love/married/had three, THREE kids, stopped working. I plan on just sitting on the couch for the next decade!
Twitter: MissusSmith
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August 21st, 2009 at 7:49 am
I thought this was the “aughties” – at least that’s something I’ve heard…
August 21st, 2009 at 8:43 am
Trust me having a decade named for your generation is a highly overrated experience ;-) Plus who cares what it’s called? You’ll always remember it anyway! Hope you’ve had a great week!
August 21st, 2009 at 8:57 am
I didn’t realize this until I was reading and it hit me 2010….wow, that sounds like it should be somewhere far in the future. Enjoyed your blog, thanks for stopping by.
August 21st, 2009 at 9:03 am
You haven’t seen anything yet…wait until you are 76…
August 21st, 2009 at 10:26 am
Oh, they’ll come up with SOMEthing to call you! The media will categorize everyone.
Hey Ronnica, I just wanted to tell you NOT to think you can’t join the 30-Day Throw Down! just because of the soda. This is about doing the best YOU can. If you can cut out the fast food but the soda just CAN’T go yet, you ARE in! This is about making changes – not perfection! Ain’t nobody I know achieving perfection, dear girl! Thanks for letting me know your thoughts and struggles. :)
August 21st, 2009 at 10:39 am
We’re living in the “nothings” apparently. The “zeros”. How unfortunate.
August 21st, 2009 at 10:46 am
And I remember it turning 2000 like it was yesterday. Amazing!
August 21st, 2009 at 11:11 am
Aren’t you the digital somethings?
August 21st, 2009 at 11:16 am
Mrs. Mouthy: At the beginning there wasn’t a name, but I thought, “Oh, by the end, there will be a name.” Yet there isn’t!
Heather: Never heard that. In fact, the only people I’ve heard used “aught” are over 70, so I don’t know that that fits!
Kim: Yeah, I don’t know about the “zeros.”
Vicki: That’d make sense.
August 21st, 2009 at 11:29 am
How about the “Y2Kers?” A decade begun with stores of tuna fish, dried beans, and powdered milk.
Cool thoughts about being the most defined in a decade – I was an 80s kid and I’m afraid that inhaling all of that hairspray pickled my brain :)
Have a great weekend!
August 21st, 2009 at 12:16 pm
Hmmm… the Entitled Generation? I have seen plenty of people in your era starting jobs thinking they should be VP before they’ve “paid their dues.” But, who knows? I have also seen plenty of kind, decent people as well.
August 21st, 2009 at 12:31 pm
I’ve been avoiding thinking about 2010. I like the way it sounds when I say it, but I don’t like being reminded that I am 10 years older. I would love to have 10 years back. Don’t get me wrong, I love my life and I’m very blessed. It would be nice to be young and carefree again.
August 21st, 2009 at 1:08 pm
Don’t look at me…I’m still stuck in 1999, with Prince.
August 21st, 2009 at 3:12 pm
I’ve never really thought about what decade defined me. I guess the 90′s- graduated high school, my father passed away, graduated college, got married, and was pregnant at the end of it. (My daughter was born in Jauary of 2000.)I think I still have some flannel shirts laying around somewhere.
August 21st, 2009 at 8:24 pm
true! i have thought about this conundrum a time or two myself. “We can’t call this the “Oh’s”…” anyway, wow! what a decade of growth for you!
Twitter: caitysparkles
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August 21st, 2009 at 11:07 pm
Yeah, it definitely has been an amazing decade: I agree. I graduated high school, graduated college, and got married. That’s a heck of a lot.
Actually, we are referred to as “Generation Y.”
Generation Y, also known as The Millennial Generation, is a term used to describe the demographic cohort following Generation X. Its members are often referred to as “Millennials” or “Echo Boomers”. There are no precise dates for when Generation Y starts and ends. Most commentators use birth dates from the mid 1970s to early 1990s inclusive. Until Generation Z began to come of age in the late 2000s, Gen Y was often ended around 2000 for convenience, but it is now more common to end Y and begin Z somewhere in the middle of the 1990s, such as August 1996. Members of Generation Y are primarily the offspring of the Baby Boom Generation.
– http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Generation_Y
August 22nd, 2009 at 10:56 am
Every decade just keeps going faster and faster. I can’t believe it’s been 10 years since 2000…wow!!
August 22nd, 2009 at 6:43 pm
Think about the significance of this decade and everything that has happened.
The start if a new millenium
The lowest score on an IQ test for a president was elected
September 11th 2001
The first black president and the first Catholic Vice President.
DVDs replace VHS
Digital Music replaced CDs
Gays had the right to be married in 4 states
It’s been an insane decade, wonder what the next one will bring.
August 24th, 2009 at 9:32 am
Listen, I’m passing some bloggy bling your way this morning…I’d be ever so happy if you stopped by to have a look!
August 25th, 2009 at 9:48 pm
I had my last baby in 2000! Of course by then I had just turned 34. *sigh* I just put that in writing for everyone here to see.
Aren’t you Generation Y. I think you’re too young to be Generation X.
September 11th, 2009 at 12:03 am
[...] few weeks ago when I talked about the end of this decade, I mentioned how it didn’t have a name. That got us talking about not only the name for the [...]