February 28th, 2010

The Millennial Generation: Gen Y’s greatest social impact

“What is the greatest social impact your generation has made so far and what do you predict for the future? The impact could be in the area of politics, technology, religion, the arts etc.” – Leo Briones

Wikipedia defines my generation as Generation Y or the Millennial Generation. We’re the successors of Generation X, the tech savvy resilient bunch that is said to be born from 1977 – 1998 or so.

We’ve grown up in an age where the Internet has played a major role on our development. We are the “Napster” generation where we expect things, like the music industry, to work different than they did in the past. I mean, really, it’s the new millennium, isn’t it?

We witnessed 9/11 and the changing political climate that followed. We’re staging anti-war protests, we’re fighting for our right to love, we’re voting and we’re dying.

Some call us the “Trophy Generation” as we expect lots of positive feedback and ample high-fives. We grew up in the “no one loses” era of sports and competition. We’re finding our bosses hard-line stances harder and harder to swallow. We’re rejecting the idea that hard work alone will guarantee anyone success.

So far, our biggest social impact has been our ability to change. We’ve seen huge changes during our time on earth and we’ve adapted accordingly. We will be known as the generation who spawned such social networking giants as Myspace, Facebook, and Twitter. We see opportunities for change and jumped on them like no other generation has in the past.

However, our legacy, will be so much more than just tweets, and #hashtags, and wall posts, or even high fives and slaps on the back.

We’re here for our revolution. We’re here to change what so desperately needs to be changed. We’re here because we believe in our own imaginations more than any other generation has believed.

In this time of economic crisis, we’re seeing that the deferred life-plans of the past are no longer relevant. We can no longer depend on getting a job out of college, working for 50 years and then retiring. There are no promises of the American dream that we grew up believing in.

However, we are choosing to create our own American dream instead. We are changing the status-quo. We’re giving a big high-five to entrepreneurialism, to lifestyle design, to vagabonding and extended travel, to volunteerism, to working abroad, to learning new languages, to accepting new cultures, and most of all; to accepting ourselves for the great creators that we are.

We’re exercising our right to quit jobs that suck and make us depressed. We’re building our empires. We’re unwavering in our resolve to be different and to adapt quicker than the last generation. We’re opening our minds and our hearts.

Our biggest impact on the world will be political, social, technological, artistic, revolutionary, global, and really damn fun too.

Our biggest impact will be that of passion. We’re going to bring passion back into a world where it has taken a backseat to being realistic. We’re not thinking about the future, we’re thinking about NOW. We’re not unemployed, we’re funemployed. We’re not putting off our dreams, we’re living them now. We’re putting passion back into the American dream and because of that, we will bring that dream alive with a millennial kind of spirit that has never been witnessed before.

Hey, I’ll give a high-five to that. Just don’t leave me hanging.

October 18th, 2009

Our online personalities

Myspace?  Facebook?  Twitter?  When did these words become integral to our existence and lives?

I don’t know too many people who don’t have a Facebook page.  In fact, I don’t know too many people who aren’t ADDICTED to Facebook.   However, when someone states that they don’t have a Facebook page, I can’t help but think, “But… how do you live? How do keep up with your friends?  How do you find out which stereotypical Californian you are? Really, how do you do it?”.

Our definition of living has changed.  We are no longer content to exist in a reality without the Internet.   Even those who are the most militantly against creating their online personalities still have to use e-mail on a near daily basis just to survive.

I’ve always been okay with delving directly into the digital world.  In fact, I’ve been using the Internet since I was about ten.   I had the old school AOL 1.0 on dial-up.  I can still hear the sound of the dial-tone as it connected.  Ahhh….  That sweet sweet high-pitched sound of connectivity.

However, lately, I’ve realized that I’ve fallen behind.  It happened so fast.  One day, I was the queen of AOL.  The next, I was asking myself questions like “What IS Twitter?” and “Is Myspace dead?”.    Man, how did I become such a n00b?

I’m going to respond like I usually do when I find myself out of “the know”.  By jumping in head first and making every possible mistake until I become an expert.

I invite you to jump in.  Join me in this experiment.  Hey, if you can’t beat them then you had better add them as a friend, follow them, and write an entire blog dedicated to them, right??  Right??

Add me as a friend on Facebook:  http://facebook.com/heidibriones

Follow me on  Twitter: http://twitter.com/heidibriones

But don’t bother with Myspace.   That’s so 2004.

May 30th, 2008

Two-stepping to a patriotic jig

Just let me take a step back for a moment to consider my roots.

Although its faults are many, its residents extremely varied, and both its present and history marked with violence, I love America.

I love America not for its government, not to for its war of terror, not for its imposition on cultures. I love America not for its shock and awe, not for its global ignorance, or for its military prowess.

I love America for its bare bones. I love America for the grassroots. Basically, I love America for its people.

People of all races, creeds, religions, ethnicities, and every other difference under the warm sun. Not that we don’t have our morons, thieves, and greed ridden criminals. This diversity is what creates the greatest beauty.

Out of chaos comes peace and out of America comes the greatest people I’ve ever met. Maybe it seems like I’m hypocritical of flip flopping like a politician but I’ve never doubted the ability of Americans. I’ve never doubted the ability to struggle from what seems hopeless and to come out stronger than ever.

Basically, I miss home. But I’m thankful for the amazing people from all the world that I’m meeting in Taiwan. However, I’m most blessed with the presence of intelligent, creative, open, honest, esoteric, stubborn, confident, and beautiful Americans.

Maybe it just says something about Americans who are willing to travel. To go out into the world with no clear plan. To out in search of anything without knowing whether you’ll find it or even caring. It’s that attitude that I not only relate to but also am thankful for.

When I do come home, I won’t come without gifts. I’ll come bearing lessons, stories, and a positive outlook. I’ll come with knowledge, motivation, and the smarts to back it up. I’ll come with love, hope, and an undying will to live. When I come home, I’ll bring the world back with me.

September 30th, 2007

Americans are rude and arrogant

Of course, I know better. Not all Americans are rude and arrogant, right? Americans get a bad rap overseas as being arrogant, ignorant of other cultures, and frankly just plain rude.

Or do we? Is some of this stereotyping and prejudice actually more close to an accurate perception than a farce?

The other day I went to one of my favorite places to eat in Taichung. It’s near my gym and my branch and they serve healthy American style food. For example, I always order the chicken sub sandwich on wheat. However, I always point to it on the menu and make a point to say “Wo yao zhe ge” or “Ji ro”. The first being, “I want this one” and the second being “Chicken”.

The point is that I’m making an effort to learn Chinese. Although the young Taiwanese man behind the counter might very well understand me if I spoke in English, I find it someone presumptive to force my language on him. It wasn’t very difficult for me to learn a few simple phrases in Chinese so why not use them?

I sat down waited for my “ji ro” when I couldn’t help but notice a very loud and obviously American man sitting next to me.

The sight was somewhat disruptive. He was sitting with a Taiwanese girl and yelling at her in English. Although, to him, he was simply talking.

“Ugh, this song is TERRIBLE! Just horrible. Hey, KILL THE MUSIC! KILL THE MUSIC!”, he screams to the Taiwanese man behind the counter.

The man working behind the counter looks puzzled but eventually changes the station.

“Oh, god that song is awful. It’s a Chinese version of a Linda Ronstadt song from the 1970′s. She sung it with Chris Christopherson. Horrible song and even worse in Chinese”

The waiter then brings him his drink and he says, “Thanks!”… However, when greeted with a blank stare he continues to say, “Thanks!” over and over until the poor waiter finally says “Xie Xie” or thanks in Chinese.

I’m sitting there wondering if I should have gotten my “ji ro” sandwich to go. I really enjoy my quiet times in this restaurant. I watch the news in Chinese and try to pick up some words that I know. I listen to whatever they play on the radio and I make sure to say “Xie xie” when I leave.

I exit and proceed to work where I begin a conversation with a fellow teacher about how he find Americans to be very arrogant, rude, and ignorant to other cultures. I defend America and say that “Well, not everyone is like that… I mean, sure, some are but…”

I find myself thinking about my recent experience with the American at the nearby restaurant and I actually change my opinion mid-conversation.

After relaying my story to my British friend, he replies, “Well, that’s exactly what I’m talking about”.

I’ve been thinking about this a lot. I make a special point to try my best to use the language of the country that I’m in. I don’t know many words but I will try to utilize the ones that I do and I attempt to learn new ones all the time. It is true that many Taiwanese people can understand and speak some English but honestly, why should they be expected to? The pressure should remain on the foreigner to try to adapt to their current living environment. I hold an American passport and to that I will hold true. However, when does being proud to be an American end? When does it simply become blind arrogance? I’m not sure but I hope that I can change some Taiwanese people’s minds about foreigners and Americans. I know I can’t destroy a stereotype on my own but maybe if I try hard enough then I can change just one person’s mind.

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September 30th, 2007

This might hurt a little.

The sub-title of Michael Moore’s newest film, “SiCKO”, is same as the title of this blog entry. Yes, Mr. Moore, it did hurt a little. The original reason that I waited so long to watch the film was because I knew that it would be depressing. Who wants to hear about the woes of sick, dying, and *gasp* deceased people?

Being that I’m at home with a cold, I finally pushed played on Quicktime and watched my pirated version of Michael Moore’s SiCKO.

The movie was obviously biased as all Michael Moore films are. However, is it truly possible to create an unbiased work of film? Or at least one that would be worth watching? I don’t believe so. Either way, I’m not going to offer a synopsis of the film as many are available with a simple Google search. You can find Moore lovers and haters alike. I’m sure that conservatives already have released an anti-SiCKO movie with the title of “Moore is a Sicko. A dirty commie sicko” or something similar.  Seriously, just see the film.

I could sit here and argue about for profit versus non-profit in America. Hey, who likes waiting for hours at the DMV? Or who likes paying hundreds of dollars in speeding tickets to the government? Wow, did you hear how long it took for the fire department to arrive at Mr. Jones’ house last week? These are all painfully trivial concerns.

The truth is that there ARE millions of Americans without health care. The truth is that those with health care are not receiving the coverage that they should be. Often times, people are forced into debt in order to pay for relatively minor procedures. Worse, people end up dying due to improper coverage. The truth is that people that you know are not receiving anywhere near the care that is necessary. The truth is that people are taking drugs that they don’t need and can’t afford the ones that they do.

But we’re talking about America. We’re talking about a place where people will argue until they are blue in the face about the prospect of paying for another person’s health care. “Why should I pay? It’s not my fault they are sick. Why should I have to pay more taxes so some jerk that I don’t know can live a few more years?”

I don’t have the answers to these questions. I do know that I would pay whatever it took for my grandma to go a single day without coughing. I would do whatever necessary to have a few extra days with the ones I love. I know that everyone out there; conservatives, liberals, hippies, and socialists alike would like the same things for their loved ones.

So, what is it really going to take to change the minds of American people? Will we continue to be terrified of a scary socialized medical system? Will be cower in fright over the thought of non-profit health care? Will we get the willies when we consider the idea of the continuation of capitalism by means that don’t KILL us?

While we consider these grave issues, I hope everyone can take comfort in the fact that Kaiser Permanente continues to get richer, the CEOs of Blue Shield will all get their bonus this Christmas, and that I will relieve my cold with Taiwanese medicine for 80 cents.

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July 15th, 2007

A More and/or Less Patriotic Post

I have an interesting relationship with the United States of America. However, being that I have never been anywhere else (sans a short trip to Mexico in my youth), I feel unqualified to be anything other than happy to be American. While I don’t approve of everything that our government does or purports as the truth, I still love a great many things about this country. Therefore, I have compiled a list of things that I will miss while being in another country. I will check back on this list to see if I actually miss the following things or not.

Things I will miss

  • Mexican Food
  • My baby doggie (She is only very small)
  • Degrassi
  • Being a native
  • Meeting new people with ease
  • Driving
  • The U.S. Constitution
  • Living on a mainland
  • California weather
  • Our Electronic Music Scene
  • Hugs
  • 24 Hour Fitness
  • Newcastle
  • My Friends and Family

Things I will not miss

  • Rush Hour in L.A. (5/10/101/405/60)
  • President Bush
  • Bros (Not MY brothers but the group of people)
  • High Cost of Living
  • FOX News

But what I won’t miss MOST of all is the persistent writer’s block that had plagued me for so long. Deciding to go to Taiwan has opened the floodgates and I’m building a dam where I’m collecting some amazing things. Stay tuned.