Generational gaps are real. “A difference of opinions between one generation and another regarding beliefs, politics or values” says Google. I couldn’t agree more with this literal definition of a phrase; it’s a matter of fact. You and your parents might not feel the same way about gay marriage, abortion, religion etc. As you and your sibling hum along to a Beatles vinyl, your grandmother and her best friend are twerking to Hotline Bling. It is blatantly obvious that those without a generational gap between them are likely to have more in common than those who do. However, as I am witnessing firsthand, a generational gap is forming within my Generation Y, to which I ask myself: generation, why?
If you were born between the 1980s and the year 2000, you are a part of Generation Y. If you live under a rock, you may not have seen this video that has recently gone viral:
...or maybe you have heard about the mass shooting in Oregon on Thursday. If you still haven't heard about the Oregon shooting or Chris Mintz, I’ll start there, as you're missing virtually nothing by not seeing the aforementioned video.
On the morning of October 1, 2015, 26-year-old gunman Chris Harper-Mercer fatally shot nine people (ages 18 to 67) and injured nine others at Umpqua Community College in Roseburg, Oregon. Shot seven times, with seven bullets that could have meant the death of seven others, 30-year-old army veteran Chris Mintz stood blocking a classroom door as to not let Harper-Mercer in. In stable condition as of late, Mintz is being hailed over just about every form of social media as a hero. Seemingly incomparable, Mintz’s selflessness is exactly what brought me to link the selfie girls with him. (Not to mention the fact that they are all a part of the same generation.)
As stated in many of the comments on the video, these girls have done nothing wrong and, to many, do not deserve the harsh criticisms they are being dealt. They are “having a fun time”, “enjoying themselves” at the game, never mind the fact that at one point in time, every girl on screen is practically spellbound by her own screen.
Now, in comparing these girls with Chris Mintz, I mean it in the least offensive way possible. On one hand, we see a gallant hero, an altruistic father who threw caution to the wind and miraculously made it out alive. On the other, a group of girls, unaware (at the time) of their being filmed and commentated on, ignoring the game altogether, basking in their selfie glory.
While that video was nowhere near as moving as the Chris Mintz stories online, I feel it went viral because it brought light to the majority of our every day lives. So many of us have become almost, if not, entirely, self-absorbed, not necessarily unwilling, but unlikely to do anything of Chris Mintz caliber. While it is not every day we meet a human shield (and with good intention), we pass a selfie girl every single day, sometimes in our own front-facing cameras. The purpose of this post is not to promote putting oneself in the face of danger for risk of not being called selfish, but to recognize the fact that, even throughout generations, compassion for others besides yourself, your own family and friends, etc., should be displayed. To the members of any generation I ask could you see yourself going out of your way to help someone you didn’t know? If the answer is quite frankly, no… then generation, why?
