Teenage Angst

"Angst" means "fear" in german, and "Teenage" bedeutet "Jugendlich" auf Deutsch. So what is it like to be a teenager nowadays? To be afraid of is age and to speak fluently german and english? No it doesn't. It means, in fact, the complete opposite.

Let's take my brother for instance. He's 18, he's French and the picture on the left shows you what he looks like. And that's the bloody thing with modern teenagers: they look like what they are. So what's so special about him (and the rest of them)?

First, he's young and ignorant even if he doesn't agree with the second adjective. Try to confront him with what he can't do and he will strike back at you with what he could do if only he wanted or needed to. Examples:

"You can't write properly, mate. You make so many mistakes".
Answer: "I could easily write properly if I wanted to, stupid. It's just that on the net people don't give a shit about the spelling."

"You can't play the guitar, bro. You have to learn first".
Answer: "I don't need to. I've got a friend who taught me a few chords and that's enough to get the girls."

"You suck with girls anyway. No one will ever love you if you don't commit."
Answer: "Tell me why they keep knocking at my door, then."

Second thing: he's in tune with his time. Apolitical, fast-typing, self-centered, quick to adapt and unable to think. Hamlet's troubles pass beyond him like planes above London. Very sociable he is, on MSN and skyrock.com; he doesn't have to surf at all to see a naked girl, just asks one of his contacts "Can you show me your breasts?" and activates his webcam.

Third thing: he doesn't get old, just a little better each day. The less he knows, the more he fits.

Fourth thing: he can make a clear distinction between the dead and the living. And he doesn't want the dead to haunt his world. Jim Morrison's dead, "bring on the dj's"; Rimbaud's dead, "bring on the slam style"; Fitzgerald is dead, "who the fuck was he?"; love is dead, "but sex lingers on..."