Scan Magazine

By Mette Lisby

Is it just me… Who has noted the huge change in our collective approach to crazes?

It used to be that fads were strictly reserved for youngsters. From Elvis, over disco, to 80s MTV, new trends were solely directed at adolescents, considered the only ones hip and happening enough to go along with a new craze any responsible adult would dismiss as silly. That has changed significantly. In today’s world we’re all teenagers.

Facebook, Ipods, Wii and PlayStations are not reserved for people in their teens. On the contrary – teens chat with aunts and uncles on Messenger. Children receive texts from their grandparents. On my birthday I got a text from an 82 year old member of my family signed “xxx”.

My Mom has an Ipod. At a family gathering she tried my cousin’s Ipod and apart from initial misunderstandings like her looking puzzled while moving rhythmically, yelling “So, am I the only one who hears the music?” she instantly declared the Ipod was “awesome” and bought one the next day.

On my Skype contact sheet every generation in my family is represented. To Skype with my parents however, does require a bit of patience. Every call begins with them fumbling with the plug to the headphones saying: “Hallo? Is this plugged in? Halloooo? Can you hear me? No?” I’ll spare you the full, action-packed minute to minute rapport, but just let you know that there does at some point occur what can be described as a real conversation. To be fair, my 14 year old niece describes her Skype calls to me in much the same way. But that sort of minor obstacle will not stand in the way of anyone over 20. Undaunted we head for new crazes, full throttle.

The only things youngsters get to keep to themselves are Bacardi Breezers and low-cut jeans – that’s two things we will never claim. Anyone with more than 5 minutes of real life experience knows that anything involving cheap liquor and exposed, freezing buttocks isn’t worth striving for.