Amy’s Adventures

It’s a once in a lifetime day!  Never again will the calendar date coincide with the zip code every teenager and young adult moved to every Monday night for 1o years. Kelly, Brenda, Brandon, Donna and bad boy Dylan never let us down in their adventures through high school, college, and the real world. In typical Aaron Spelling form, 90210 hit hard issues: teen pregnancy scares, lost virginity, drunk driving, strung out parents and the never-ending desire to be popular. However, the scene I remember most was not of the after-school special variety, but something much more tragic–my BFF wearing the same dress to prom. Check out Kelly and Brenda and their “Bobbsie Twin” outfits.

For me, summer ends when I flip the calendar from August to September. Despite the fact that we’re days away from Labor Day and several weeks away from the fall solstice, summer is officially over. This makes me sad since I love the lazy days of summer. Nevertheless, I’m determined to find some good in a month that rivals January’s holiday hangover.

1. Labor Day  - A month that provides an official holiday and for most a day off can’t be all that bad.

2. National One Hit Wonder Day (25th) - I love the song, Mickey by Tony Basil. It just always puts me in a good mood. Cheers for a month that gives me a reason to blast Mickey from my car.

3. Sapphires - Sapphire, the September birthstone is my favorite gem, and I can admire the 423 carat gem at the Smithsonian Natural History Museum on the National Museum Day (25th).

4. Google Commemoration Day (7th). Google’s simply brilliant. This invention has totally revolutionized my life and it definitely deserves recognition.

5. National Apple Month - Fruit’s good for you. It’s even better when it’s in a pie.

6. International Chocolate Day (13th) - Need I really explain this one?  Looks like a trip to Biagio Chocolate in Dupont Circle is coming up soon.

Sitting at lunch, I look around and am quickly reminded that the students are on their way back. For those of us who work and live near college campuses, this annual ritual reminds us that once upon a time we too were young, stupid and believed we were different.

And though we are unequivocally smarter today, post-undergrad, I can’t deny there are things I still envy about college students.

1.Wearing pajamas, sweats, whatever to class. I still haven’t found an employer where this is allowed.

2. Scheduling your classes around your need for sleep. We don’t all work our best at 8am. Some of us need to sleep-in and start later.

3. Student discounts. In this crappy economy I’d love to have my student discount back.

4. Sharing clothes with roommates. My wardrobe was 2x bigger in college.

5. Unemployed & crappy jobs. No one questioned why you weren’t working or why you were still waiting tables. Your focus was school so you could get away with having a useless job or no job.

6. Friends. You lived, partied and got drunk with your friends. Everyone was on the same page and wanted the same thing: a degree and a good time in the process. For most, marriage, babies, mortgages were not on the radar, and that was okay.

Maddie takes on DC and her Aunt Amy

Last weekend, I hosted my 14 year old niece for a weekend in the city, away from the parental oversight.  Having no kids of my own, I sometimes feel out of touch with those younger than 25. However, what I learned is that despite advancements in technology and a slight more tendency toward ADD than previous generations, teenagers are still just teenagers.

1. Fitting in.  Sometimes this is wearing the right clothes, having the newest technology, but really it’s about friends and being accepted into the “right” group. Kids still want to be cool and popular.

2. Gossip. Technology facilitates the gossip differently today than it did even 10 years ago, but it’s still gossip.

3. Everything is weird. If  it goes against what’s considered “normal” in the teenager’s eyes,  then it’s weird. Teenagers don’t want to be perceived as abnormal, so to “fit in” (see #1) it’s all weird.

4. Cliques. Band geeks, jocks, popular girls, nerds–you know the list, they’re still there. Funny, how after all the work toward a more accepting, diverse culture, teenagers are still using the same stereotypes that have been used for 30+ years.

5. Labels. Whether it’s Abercrombie, Coach, Juicy Couture, Louis Vouitton or the iPhone, labels still run rampant throughout American high schools.  Today there’s more turnover and competition to be on top of the trends, but it’s still about labels and who has the latest and greatest.