Spring Break SPI

It’s finally here, that time of year when the youth of America breaks forth from their cold, heartless universities and other places of higher learning to migrate here in droves to partake in water, sun, sand, and beer, while chasing outrageous behavior and members of the opposite sex.

I had to go to the island this morning. (Bullshit. I could have done something else, but I just can’t resist an excuse to see the remains people behaving badly. The length that people will go to act stupid amazes me each and every day.)

Empty alcohol containers lined the bridge, as did litter all over the town. When you began to look in the nooks and crannies you found that young bodies were filling them to capacity. There were sleeping and hung over people everywhere. The hotels were overfull and the beaches were lined with cars, RVs, and tents all containing people who were not ready to face another day.

The police were pulling cars over all night and were still going strong at 6 AM. The traffic was heavy from dusk till dawn and did not thin out until well after sunup. Eyes as red as the molten lead sunrise were everywhere to be seen.

For one month each year, South Padre Island becomes a temple to sex, drugs, all night debauchery and wasted youth. A giant pilgrimage to hormones and trendy chemical amusement aids. A great party celebrating spring and parents that want their children to have everything.

I can’t tell you how happy I am to not have been there to actually see it.

These are the people who are going to be in charge of the government when we are old and unable to take care of ourselves.

I can feel you get uncomfortable with the thought all the way over here. But think for a minute. Remember the 70s? Remember the smell of marijuana just about everywhere you cared to go? Remember the throngs of young semi-nude people stoned out of their gourds that were in every gathering place you could imagine? Remember hippies and stoners forming communes and protesting everything?

Remember that the ones that were convinced they were going to change the face of government are now all grown up and things have not gone all to hell.

I think that this generation is more devoted to capitalism than we were. When I was young, we would have been sleeping on the beach and telling ourselves how cool we were. These young people bring RVs, tents, and stay in hotels. They drive nice cars and eat at restaurants and buy new clothes. They take showers and care about how they look.

I think I would rather trust my future to them than my generation, and I don’t think we fucked things up all that badly.