What's Up with 'Grups'?
New York Magazine recently ran an very entertaining article about a certain type of adults the writer called Grups:
"'Grups' is a nerdy reference to an old Star Trek episode in which Kirk and crew land on a planet run entirely by kids, who call grown-ups "grups." All the adults have been killed off by a terrible virus, which also slows the natural aging process, so the kids are trapped in a state of extended prepubescence. They will never grow up. And they are running the show."
Grups are listening to the latest music, dressing like that guy from the swiftly cancelled Love Monkey, and spend their downtime going to concerts and playing extreme sports. He went on to say that for the first time ever there is no generation gap:
"This is an obituary for the generation gap. It is a story about 40-year-old men and women who look, talk, act, and dress like people who are 22 years old."
Is he right?
While reading his article I begin to evaluate my family's potential to be grups.
At twenty-five, I am on the cusp of the grups age bracket. I have never liked loud music or crowded concerts and I feel like a poseur if I wear a concert tee if I'm not a huge fan of the band.
My dad is really into music and tried to take me to concerts when I was younger. He has a Jack Johnson cd, knows who The White Stripes are, but doesn't get the popularity of Gorillaz. He briefly tried to rollerblade when it was popular years ago, but thankfully never got into it.
My mom could care less about music, but happily watches shows with me and is currently on season three of my Buffy dvds. On her last vacation she spent most of her time bird watching.
They both wear sneakers, jeans and sweatshirts. My mom favors hoodies from Sears and my dad has more flannel than a lumberjack. We all agree that distressed jeans are a stupid idea and refuse to buy them. Of course we are middle class and I think my mom would have a heart attack if I told her I spent over $100 for a pair of pre-ripped jeans.
Relieved to find that my parents aren't grups, I try to think about why grups have emerged? A large part of the grups attitude may come from our country's current economic state. In the past, you worked hard for one company your entire life. You climbed the ladder, got health insurance and vacation time, and retired with a tidy pension. Now all around, grups are aware that the mode of work that was there for their parents doesn't even exist today. Layoffs, outsourcing, and debacles like Enron had made the job market tight. New jobs offer a fraction of the pay and benefits that were once part of a standard job offer and aren't even guaranteed to last.
I also believe that grups are very tech savvy and many were enjoying the affluent times and relaxed dress code of the dotcom era. Even though that bubble burst, grups still want the money without the restrictions of the corporate world.
I think that grups can only exist in a relative state of affluence. Although grups take pains to look like they shop at St. Vinnies their clothes are really a status symbol. Grups need the time to keep up with what's hot and the money to pay for it.
Hotness ain't cheap.
This led me to thinking about the advent of computers and the internet at home and at work. How many grups spend their morning scanning celebrity gossip columns online, downloading songs for their i-pods and shopping for Seven jeans? All without having to set foot in a trendy mall store manned by bored teens and blaring music loud enough to give you a migraine.
Also, there is a trend that has rendered children to be more like accessories. I was at a techno music fest in Detroit over the summer and I saw parents pushing their kids in strollers. It reminded me of a picture of Gwyneth Paltrow at a car race with her daughter Apple. Apple was wearing large noise canceling headphones and looking pretty cool for a baby. The writer emphasizes that grups want their kids to be cool.
What's the problem being pointed out here? Are grups irresponsible? Not really. Are they ruining their kids? Nah (although some of their worst fears involve their kids growing up to be republicans). Are they trying to hard to be cool? Maybe
But what does it mean to be an adult? Boring? Only liking the music you grew up listening to, stopping right after high school? Wearing pants that are too short and ties that are too tight? Grups seem to be finding their own way and as long as it's not Daddy's way. They want to have fun, freedom and enjoy their jobs instead of working at one they hate just to make ends meet.
Perhaps they are being facilitated by their boomer parents who are still raking in those pensions and are glad to help junior out with the bills until he finds whatever it is he's looking for and answers those nagging questions:
Was I ever cool? Will I have a chance now, with a wider social circle and more money, to be cool? If I influence them before they hate me, can my kids be cool?
I'm kind of getting stressed just thinking about it. As a friend of mine said, she's stressed enough without her jeans being stressed too. I think I'll leave it to the grups for now.