Chapter 31 Twenty-eight brushes the teeth of the hippopotamus

realistic generation Andre: I noticed that you are very disdainful to answer my question: "What do you want to do in the future", so you made nonsense with me. Is it because people of your generation are too confident about the future, so you disdain to be diligent and diligent like my generation when you were young, and walk on eggshells, or, in fact, you are too confident and afraid of the future, so you pretend to be a mockery And arrogant posture, to dodge my questioning? I almost believe that you are pretending to be chic.Can today's young people be chic about the future?The footage of French young people shouting and protesting on the streets shocked the whole world: this is not the youth of the 1960s who took to the streets to shout for romantic and abstract revolutionary ideals—carrying wreaths and singing with guitars, this is the 21st century young people are troubled and struggling for their real livelihood.Look at the UN's youth unemployment figures for 2005:

Belgium 21.5%; Australia 22.6%; Finland 21.8%; France 20.2%; Greece 26.3%; Italy 27%; Poland 41%; Slovakia 32.9%; Spain 27.7%; UK 12.3%; US 12.4%; Germany 10.1%; Unemployment rate for youth aged 15 to 24) 9.7%; Taiwan 10.59%.Mainland China, where the figures are not exact, is 9%. The unemployment rate for people your age is much higher than the average unemployment rate.In some districts of Paris, 40 percent of the young people leave school and cannot find work.Then, if the youth suicide rate is also taken into account, I am afraid that all parents in the world will be in trouble.Suicide is already the number one cause of death for 15- to 24-year-olds in the United States.In Taiwan, it is also gradually rising and is the second cause of death after accidents.According to the World Health Organization, in one-third of the countries in the world, young people are the highest suicide group.Finland, Ireland, and New Zealand are three advanced countries, and their youth suicide rates are among the top three in the world.

You deliberately dodged my question because...you, who are 21 years old and still in college, do you feel the pressure of reality? The "Cinderella" generation When we were 21, the 1970s was the time when the economies of most countries were about to take off.Standing on the narrow soil with two feet, but looking at the open sky, I feel that the future is big and everything is possible.Later, like magic, I watched the son of a poor farmer become the president; the daughter of a fisherman became a famous doctor; the son of a noodle vendor became an international lawyer; the daughter of a dock worker became a university professor; Son, became a world-leading high-tech entrepreneur.Not that no one has lost their minds, but we really are the "Cinderella" generation, Andrea, in our time, when we see pumpkins turn into golden carriages, rattle away, and make real noises.Many of my friends are professors, congressmen, writers, editors-in-chief, lawyers, physicians, entrepreneurs, scientists, and publishers.However, many people actually hide a small piece of soil and tribe deep in their hearts—our rustic, humble and simple hometown.On the surface, they may show their teeth and claws, but in their hearts, they are deeply caring for a young and fragile starting point.

If one day, we so-called "social elites" invite our parents to watch a play at the National Theatre, under the crystal lights and on the red carpet, we will hold hands and hobble, there will be a large area full of old bananas. The faces of farmers, street vendors, fishermen, and workers—these are extremely simple faces that have suffered hardships and bitterness.They are shy and cramped, or they speak suddenly, the voice is so loud that people look sideways, and the middle-aged children around them are leisurely, calm, and insightful, and they are people of two classes and two worlds.

Timo Your 20s fall into the early 21st century.Today's young people in the United States have to change their fourth job before they can find a job that barely matches their interests.In post-"liberation" Eastern Europe, in the republics of all sizes in the former Soviet Union, young people have nowhere to go.In advanced Western Europe, young people, fearful of their job opportunities, are exodus to India and China.From my 20s to yours, Andrei, the human suicide rate has increased by sixty percent. So I thought about Timo. Do you remember Timo?He loved drawing since he was a child. In the German education system with a free atmosphere and no emphasis on competition and ranking, he learned to be a foreign language translator for a while, a locksmith for a while, and a carpenter for a while.I couldn't find a job after graduation. One year passed, two years passed, and three years passed. Now, how many years should it be?I don't remember either, but he was only 18 years old when he was unemployed. He is 41 years old this year and still unemployed, so he lives with his mother.When he is free, he sits at the window facing the street, and Timo draws giraffes.The giraffe's neck sticks out from the top of the bus.Giraffes walk across the airport.A giraffe walks into a theater where a movie is being shown.The giraffe stared at a child riding a tricycle with big eyes with long eyelashes.The giraffe is chewing, chewing, chewing.

Because there is no job, there is no marriage.So no kids either.Timo was still living the life of a child himself.However, his mother is almost 80 years old. Am I worried that my Andre will become Timo in the future? Honestly... yes, I was worried too. Not "children", but "others" I remember our conversation on the balcony that night. What a beautiful evening it was, Andrea.Years from now, when I am already very old, if the memory has not left me completely, I will remember such a night.There is no star or moon, and the sea is dark and dark.But the sound of the waves crashing on the shore came with the wind in the darkness, one after another.The chasing wind whipped up the broad leaves of magnolia, making a rustling noise.At 3 o'clock in the morning, a cricket, the only lonely cricket in the world, began to sing faintly.

You said: "Mom, you have to clearly accept the fact that you have an extremely mediocre son." You sit in a chair on the balcony with your back to the sea.At 3 in the morning, you light up your cigarette. When Chinese friends see you lighting a cigarette in front of me, they will look at me incredulously, meaning——he, he, why would he smoke in front of his mother?You, you, how could you allow your son to smoke in front of you? I have thought about this question seriously. I don't like people smoking because I don't like the smell of smoke.I don't like my son smoking even more, because smoking can give him deadly lung cancer.

However, my son is 21 years old and an independent adult.As an adult, he has to be responsible for his own actions and bear the consequences for his own mistakes.Once accepted this logic, he decided to smoke, how do I "not allow"?What power or authority have I to restrain him?All I can say is that you have to respect the people you share the same room with, so please don't smoke indoors.Well, he doesn't smoke indoors.Others, what control do I have? I watched you light a cigarette, raise your legs, smoke, and spit out a cloud of blue mist; I wish I could pull the cigarette out of your mouth and throw it into the sea.However, I found myself saying to myself, MM please remember, there is an adult sitting in front of you, and you have to treat him like every other adult in the world.You wouldn't take a cigarette out of your friend's mouth or a stranger's, and you couldn't take that out of Andre's mouth.He is no longer your "child", he is a person.He is an "other".

I recited it silently 3 times in my heart. Andre, it is not easy to grow up as a teenager, everyone knows that; however, the mother who wants to hold you, nurse you, and protect you from growing up learns to "let go" and treat you as "someone else" to a certain extent. ", but it's not fucking easy! sober soul "Where are you 'average'?" I said, "What does 'average' mean?" "I don't think my future career will be as good as yours, nor my father's—you both have Ph. Ds." I look at you... yes, Andrea, I'm a little surprised.

"I am almost sure that I am unlikely to have the achievements of my father, let alone your achievements. I may become a very ordinary person, with a very ordinary education, a very ordinary job, not too rich, and No name. A most mediocre man." You extinguished the cigarette, and on the balcony where there was no star, no moon, and only the sound of the waves, it suddenly became quiet. And you say, "Will you be disappointed?" The sound of the waves was mixed with the wind, and it was a little hard to tell which was the waves and which was the wind.From the cloud came the muffled hum of an airplane flying to nowhere.The cricket seemed to be asleep too.Your voice is soft.Such mornings and nights are when the soul is particularly awake, and has not yet put on the various disguises of the day.

brush the hippo's teeth I forgot what I said to you──I won't be disappointed, I'm happy no matter what you do because I love you?Or disapprovingly argue with you about "mediocre" philosophy?Or seriously trying to convince you that you're not average and just haven't found your true self yet? I don't remember, maybe there was too much wine that night too.However, I can tell you right now if I am "disappointed" if you are "mediocre". The most important thing to me, Andrea, is not whether you are successful, but whether you are happy.And in the modern life structure, what kind of work is more likely to bring you happiness?First, it gives you meaning; second, it gives you time.Your work is what you think is meaningful. Your work does not kidnap you and make you a prisoner of your work. It allows you to fully experience life, and you are more likely to be happy.As for money and fame, where are the core elements of happiness?Suppose, the choice before you is to be a bank manager on Wall Street or a zookeeper to take care of lion hippos, and you are a person who likes animal research, I don't think bank managers are more successful, or lions and hippos Admins "mediocre".Daily struggles over the ups and downs of money numbers are probably not as good as bathing elephants and brushing the teeth of hippos every day. When your work has meaning in your mind, you feel fulfilled.When your job gives you time and doesn't take away your life, you have dignity.A sense of accomplishment and dignity, give you happiness. I am afraid that you will become Timo who draws giraffes, not because he has no money or fame, but because he cannot find meaning.I also ask you to study hard, not because I want you to compare your achievements with others, but because I hope you will have the right to choose in the future, choose meaningful and time-consuming jobs, instead of being forced to make a living. Even the word "mediocre" doesn't make much sense if we're not comparing ourselves to other people but simply finding our own peace of mind. "Mediocrity" is compared with others, and the comfort of mind is compared with yourself.Our ultimate responsible person, Andre, is still the word "myself" in the end of thousands of mountains and rivers.Therefore, of course, you have no reason to compare with your previous generation, or live to conform to the previous generation's imagination of you. Similarly, you have to explain to yourself whether you smoke or not. MM