Actual conversation with a 14-year old:

Jay:

So, are kids your age doing a lot of dating these days?

Kid:

I just broke up with my girlfriend. She was smothering me. I wanted to hang out with my friends, but she didn’t want me to. So I broke up with her. I’m done.

Jay:

How old are you, again? What do you mean, you’re done?

Kid:

I just don’t want to be tied down.

Jay:

I feel like I’m talking to an adult. You’re 14! You sound like you’re having your first mid-life crisis.

Kid:

My dad’s friend gets women from all over the world off the internet. They never hassle him. He just pays for their plane tickets and they show up at his front door. If he doesn’t like them, he gets to send them back within in 90 days. It’s like a guarantee or something.

Jay:

He told you this?

Kid:

I heard him talking to my dad about it. The last girl he got was from, I think, Russia.  She modeled for him online, and they chatted and stuff before she came over. He had to get her a Visa and pay for her plane ticket, but it wasn’t First Class or anything.

Jay:

So you’re thinking about going the internet route?

Kid:

Why not? It sounds pretty cool to me.

Jay:

Yea, like a video game. The problem is that the reality part will eventually find a way to screw up your fantasies no matter where you find these women.

Kid:

Then I’ll just send them back.

Note: I share this because I find it interesting that adolescent attitudes are merging with adult behavior, which is noteworthy, since they inherited it from us.

So now we’re stuck with a generation that can’t distinguish 3-dimensional reality from what is experienced online.

But perhaps that’s because is no longer a difference.