I was born late in the 1970's. Officially, I am a member of the so-called 'Generation X'.
I am probably the least 'Gen-X' person you will ever meet
I loathe cynicism and the cynical Gen-X ironic detachment.
I am an idealist. I am a survivor and an idealist.
I believe in the love and peace of the Hippies.
I still believe in the Star Trek-Steven Spielberg dreams of my childhood in the 80s.
I am probably the least 'Gen-X' person you will ever meet.
So, why are we like this, and why am I so, so different?
I am different because of my Autism. I am a high functioning Autistic, a smart Autistic, and that has made all the difference in the world.
First things first. We Gen-Xers are not lovers of cynicism and ironic detachment because we grew up fearing the bomb in the Cold War.
This was 1982, not 1952.
The Cold War connection is this: the news media of 1992 was run by the people who were fearing the bomb in 1952 as children.
We had the most idlyyic childhood that you can imagine.
The Cold War was a history textbook. Classic Sesame Street was on the air. Star Trek Steven Spielberg dreams were our life.
Then, when we were teens, it all ended, in inglorious flames.
The world was a nightmare of Gangsta Rap, people killing people for glory on the radio
The Cold War news media ruled, popular culture was a Grunge CSI gloom of despair.
The American mental crisis had begun.
The world outside our door had not changed.
Sunshine still lit up a beautiful world of birds and glorious mountains.
But the world on TV and on the Cold War news media was a nightmare.
The American mental crisis had begun.
As teens and pre-teens we were all latchkey kids. Millions of us.
This is why we developed that Gen-X reliability, that Gen-X survival instinct.
We are hardened survivors as a generation.
But as we lived as latchkey kids, with no parents to help us, often getting in trouble for mistakes we made when Mom was not around, that mental crisis happened.
The Grunge-Gangsta rap mental crash of 1992.
Our world was transformed. Crashed.
Star Trek Steven Spielberg dreams were transformed into a Grunge CSI nightmare.
And with our survivalist latchkey-kid mentality, with our divorced parents, we gave into despair and developed that ironic detachment as a mental survival mechanism.
Here's why I am so different.
I am Autistic. I am a smart Autistic.
When I was a latchkey kid, I still knew that I could rely upon my parents.
When my parents divorced, I still knew that I could rely upon my parents to love me.
I knew my parents' love. I knew that I could rely upon them to save me.
We smart Autistics know.
We Autistics are hypersensitive. When someone loves us, we know.
And so, I did not develop the disaster mentality of a Gen-X-er.
And because of my Autism, I had had pain before.
The mental crisis of 1992 did not scare me.
And so, I did not give in to despair.
I did not give up on those Star Trek Steven Spielberg dreams, even as Steven himself gave up on them.
I did not give up on that Sesame Street-Hippie idealism.
And that makes me who I am.
This is who I am.
This is my mission as David S. Annderson.
This is my life, and this is who I am!
God loves you!
Sincerely,
David S. Annderson
P.S. This was hard to publish! The system does not want you to know this! (Fortunately, my main page is Deviantart, and Deviantart does not give a damn about the system!)