Generation X: 10 definiciones imprescindibles

[Por si había dudas]

El otro día estuve hojeando mi copia de Generation X, un libro al que tengo mucho cariño. Tampoco sé explicar por qué, quizás porque cuando lo leí vivía en un barrio lejanamente parecido. O porque tuve que buscar la mitad de las expresiones en mi diccionario Collins, mientras fuera el sol doraba las copas de los tilos justo antes de desaparecer de golpe, casi a fuerza de interruptor. Le tengo cariño y le tengo miedo, porque releyendo trozos me encontré con un glosario de expresiones que entonces (no trabajaba) no tenían apenas sentido, y de repente, en la Europa de la desesperanza, ahora que  por fin nos hemos dado cuenta de que los baby boomers nos han robado el futuro, 22 años después de la primera edición nada menos, cobran sangrante sentido.

Estas son mis diez favoritas:

Boomer envy: envy of material wealth and long-range material security accrued by older members of the baby boom generation by virtue of fortunate births. [Page 26]

Lessness: A philosophy whereby one reconciles oneself with diminishing expectations of material wealth: "I've given up wanting to make a killing or be a bigshot. I just want to find happiness and maybe open up a litle roadside café in Idaho." [Page 60]

Cult of Aloneness: the need for autonomy at all costs, usually at the expense of long-term relationships. Often brought about by overly high expectations of others. [Page 77]

Personal Tabu: A small rule for living, bordering on a superstition, that allowes one to cope with everyday life in the absence of cultural or religious dictums.  [Page 83]

Voter's block: The attempt, however futile, to register dissent with the current political system by simply not voting. [Page 90]

Rebellion Postponement: The tendency in one's youth to avoid traditionally youthful activities and artistic experiences in order to obtain serious career experience. Sometimes results in the mourning for lost youth at about thirty, followed by silly haircuts and expensive joke-inducing wardroves. [Page 121]

Strangelove reproduction: Having children to make up for the fact that one no longer believes in the future. [Page 156]

Underdogging: The tendency to almost invariably side with the underdog in a given situation. The consumer expression of this trait is the purchasing of less succesful, "sad", or failing products. [Page 156]

Option paralysis: The tendency, when given unlimited choices, to make none. [Page 161]

Expatriate Solipsism: When arriving to a foreign travel destination one had hoped was undiscovered, only to find many people just like oneself; the peeved refusal to talk to said people because they hae ruined one's elitist travel fantasy. [Page 200]

[Douglas COUPLAND 2001 Generation X. London: Abacus]