I was recently sent one of those annoying “group emails” where it had something to do with “…if you’re over 30 you’ll enjoy this,” Type of thing. I don’t like these type of emails and please never, EVER send me a chain email. I hate those most. I automatically delete those without even reading them.

Now, this particular email focused on how easy kids have it today. I for one wouldn’t say that kids have it any easier today compared to back when I was a kid because things are pretty much circling the drain today (increased violence, AIDS, over crowding, global warming, war, value of the dollar dropping, gas going up to name a few). Where the email went wrong was it stated a lot of technological things we didn’t have, which is true however that had very little to do with “how easy” kids have it. I would say that it’s just different now and will continue to be for every single generation to come.

However, coming from a bit more of a challenged socioeconomic background as I did we didn’t have a lot of the things most middle class Americans did have back then and that’s where I had even further issue with this lame-ass email. But that's not what I was trying to get at here.

Even though we didn’t have a lot of the technological advances that are available today and the fact that my family were poor I still feel the exact opposite of how easy kids have it today because it wasn't so bad then compared to how kids have it today. Things were less crowded and a little less hectic…even in the ‘hood! I’m not saying that it was “the good old days” but it wasn’t so bad either. Sure, we had gangs but not as many (gang membership and activity has grown ten-fold since I was a kid) and I didn't have to worry about what color I wore to school for example.

I was going to write my own comparisons to what we did and didn’t have when I was a kid but I’ll spare you.

It's a pretty stressful world and I feel that even though kids may have a lot of advantages it still ain't no picnic.