Generation Lonely

[Lindsay Szymanski]

Gertrude Stein wrote of the “Lost Generation”, a generation of disillusioned souls that were caught between 2 world wars, with little direction, stalled ambition and trepidacious hope for the future. Douglas Coupland wrote of “Generation X” and the perils of going through the 90’s bouncing from one McJob to another all the while searching for greater life meaning and a solid place among the counterculture. Millenials, those into their 20’s at the turn of the millennium, may consist of the thriving, intellectuals remnants of the dot com era, but many have delved into their own lost generation, Generation Lonely.

With society’s dependence on technology and the accessibility of anything you need to subsist at your finger tips, the need for social interaction is becoming, in itself, obsolete. You can order food, movies, sex, drugs, prescription medicine and even groceries online. Their entire life can be filmed like an episode of the Home Shopping Channel. Many people in this generation also telecommute, negating the need to even leave the house if they don’t want to.

There are any number of social media outlets to suit what ever your fancy or fetish may be, all with the attractive promise of anonymity. Just look at the Facebook, My Space and Twitter sites. Some individuals from Gen L have friends numbering in the thousands, yet whether or not they have actually met those people in real life is still to be determined. There are whole communities of people who meet on a daily basis and discuss the trials of life in the “outside” world; the only way to escape their harsh reality is through videogame interactions with like-minded people with microphones and webcams.

Back in the 50’s and 60’s, when you were having a hard day or issues with running your life, no sooner could you say, “Betty, I just don’t know what to do!” than your best friend was over at your house discussing family life over fresh baked cookies and a steaming cup of Joe. Now when you’re having a bad day, just plug in your favourite movie, turn up your favourite song or hop into a chat room to discuss whatever minor annoyance is affecting you that day.

Many people of the lonely generation hide behind the facade of being “shy” when in reality, technology has robbed these people of their social graces. It is virtually impossible to learn the art of human interaction over the internet. They feel uncomfortable outside of their 4 walls, and yet wonder why they are depressed and socially retarded.

Some “Lonelies” sit around their apartments waiting for life to happen or for someone from their online circle of friends to come knocking at their door. They search for and often find the person of their dreams online; however, when the time comes for them to actually meet face to face, it may never happen -- or if it does it is doomed from the start because of neither party knows how to act appropriately or attractively to the other person.

While this is undoubtedly an unfulfilling place for members of this generation to be, there seems to be little interest in going outside of their comfort zones to remedy their situation. Many young adults lack not only the desire but the skills and tools necessary to help them out of their sadness. If they can’t find the solution on Google, it’s not worth the effort.