Every Gen-Xer who watched TV knows the words to the limited script:

Boy 1: “What’s this stuff?”

Boy 2: “Some cereal. It’’s supposed to be good for you.”

Boy 1: “Are you gonna try it?

Boy 2: “I’m not gonna try it. YOU try it!”

Boy 1: “I’m not gonna try it.”

[enter lightbulb moment/stroke of genius here]

Boy 2: “I know! Let’s get Mikey!”

Boy 1: “He won’t eat it. He hates everything.”

Camera pans to Mikey, who has been given the unwanted bowl of cereal.

Mikey, completely unawares, starts eating and doesn’t stop.

Boy 1: “He likes it!! Hey Mikey!!”

Cue voiceover with a call to action about how Life Cereal is good or you, etc.

Never again could four words in simple succession immediately become the catch-phrase of the era.

You can read the full post here: He Likes It! Hey Mikey!

This hardline regarding one’s life choices - as important as the choice of a career or life partner, and as insignificant as what was on the menu for brunch (quiche if you had a double-x chromosome) - was one that was not to be crossed. You were on one side or the other. Quiche or steak. Choose your side.

When we look at pictures and videos of people in the past - say the 50s, 60s and 70s - don't you find that they look a lot older than people of the same age now? Why is that? What are the reasons that a 15-year-old in 1972 looks so much older than a teen of the same age today? What the heck is going on?