One of the most annoying clichés I have run across among my fellow middle-aged people is the whine that kids had it so much tougher back in our day. Over on Patheos, blogger Max Lindenman has delivered a pitch-perfect parody of the genre:

“These poor bubble-wrapped Oprafied kids! Why, in my day, we poured ground glass on our pancakes and chewed the dishes like breath mints. After we finished, I’d grab my Kenner stainless-steel tomahawk, my brother would grab his Hasbro single-action Colt Navy revolver, and we’d play cowboys and Indians. Once my dad told me, ‘Son, I’d rather see your sister in a whorehouse than you in a seat belt.’ To make his point, he beat me bloody with a sjambok. That was my ninth birthday.”

Spot-on. I grew up in the 1970s, with (perhaps a little more than?) my share of issues, and it was tough enough. When I look at the pressures, stresses, and competitiveness (in both the economy and the overall society) that today’s kids put up with — all of which look vastly more difficult than the ones my generation faced — all I can say is, 1) Be brave, kids; and 2) Good heavens, I’m glad it’s not me having to face all that.