The Change Generation

Hillary Clinton says she understands why Donald J. Trump supporters are so angry
Posted by NowThis Election on Wednesday, March 23, 2016

Politics fascinates our nine-year-old, Katie. Her fourth-grade class is studying the current United States Presidential election.

Katie, overhearing me watching this video: "Is that Hillary Clinton?"

Me: "Yep."

Katie: "She sounds good."

Me: "Yeah, I like what she's saying here."

Katie: "I thought you liked Bernie Sanders."

Me: "I do."

Katie "But you like Hillary Clinton, too? I thought they were running against each other."

Me: "Yeah. They are. But they're both way better than the candidates on the Republican side. I like both of them, I just like Bernie more. But if for some reason Bernie doesn't win the Democratic nomination, I'll vote for Hillary Clinton."

Katie: "So Bernie's your favorite and Hillary's your second-favorite?"

Me "Yep."

Katie: "Who's your least favor--"

Me: "--Donald Trump. Hands down."

Katie: "Yeah, I thought so. So who's your third favorite, Cruz?"

Me: "No, John Kasich."

Katie: "Who's that?"

Me: "He's the governor of Ohio, and he's running for president."

Katie: "Oh. So Cruz is your fourth favorite and then Donald Trump is your least favorite?"

Me: "Yeah, of the major parties. There are other people running for president, too, but those are the five from the Democrats and the Republicans."

Katie: "And you want Bernie to win but if he doesn't you want Hillary to win?"

Me: "Yep."

Katie: "It'd be kinda cool to have a girl president."

Me: "A woman president? Yeah, that would be cool."

Katie: "This should be called the Change Generation."

Last night, we were discussing what the names of the various generations are, such as The Greatest Generation, The Silent Generation, The Baby Boomers, Gen-X, and The Millennials. Katie asked what the name of her generation is, and I said I didn't know, that sometimes it takes a while for a generation to develop its name.

Me: "Oh yeah? Why should it be called The Change Generation?"

Katie: "Because our presidents are about change. Like, if Hillary Clinton wins, she'd be the first girl president."

Me: "The first woman president. She's a woman, not a girl. We don't call Bernie a boy. He's a man. And anyway,  he'd be the first Jewish president if he wins."

Katie: "Bernie's Jewish? Like, Jesus?"

Me: "Yep. And Barack Obama is the first black president."

Katie: "Yep. See, we should be called The Change Generation."

Sing Louder

Twenty-three years ago, on March 15, 1993, I starting working at the library in the periodicals department. The longest amount of time I'd stuck with a job prior to the library was two months, when I was a nanny to three kids one summer. The shortest amount of time I've stuck with a job is one day, at Europlay at Oak Park Mall when I got fired for not sorting the Koosh balls into their bins correctly. And for being too shy to approach customers and sell them more than what they came in for.

With age comes wisdom, yes, but with age also comes confidence. You get to a part of your life where you realize, "I really just want to get paid to sing and dance with kids and read them a silly book or two". When your inner critic whispers, "you are too shy to do that," sing louder.