chrbutler

I hear that. And I don't think it's in opposition to what I'm focusing on in this piece. Ultimately, the point is that The Matrix provided a relatively novel metaphor for the kind of world re-entry a young adult makes when they go off on their own, and that, for me, it was part of a group of events that solidified a certain paranoia and cynicism that I think is somewhat unique to late GenX/early Millenials.

Author here: I was putting these events together as a zeitgeist aligning with entering adulthood for people my age. I probably should have added a "then" in between the Y2K and election references. But I wan't trying to draw a sequential connection.

I am nervously waiting to see what social media is the THING for my daughter's generation (she's 8). One of her friends just got an Apple Watch so it feels like everything is about to change for her and them...

I had to explain a phone booth to my daughter recently. It was being removed from a corner spot in front of a gas station – maybe the last one in our city!

Hey, thanks for reading this everyone – the author