...to Remember Boom Boxes (Part II)

Since they were toddlers capable of making lots of noise and inserting themselves into the lives of all people within an 100 yard radius, my kids learned from the Italian Mama that behaving properly in public means disturbing as few people as possible, as little as possible. On my seemingly interminable New York City commutes to my first job out of college, disturbing as many people as possible, preferably to an intolerable degree, was a goal achieved by many young men who appeared to be otherwise disenfranchised. Surrounded by people dressed for the office or lugging backpacks for school, the Boom Box Brigade sported baggy jeans, unlaced hiking boots, and bomber jackets over t-shirts. They were not riding the 4 train to Wall Street. I couldn't help but feel that the loud music, the lumbering gait (under the weight of that damned boom box!), and the disheveled clothing was a demonstration of power from the powerless, a literal shout out "I matter if only because I am assaulting your eardrums and eyeballs right now!"

Contrast these loud, imposing, and hard-to-ignore young people with today's young music lovers. Their iPods or iPhones tucked discreetly in their pockets, they silently enjoy their music and glide through society disturbing only those they might bump into as they silently text their friends. The Italian Mama believes that today's plugged in youth may feel more empowered in more constructive ways than their counterparts from 30 years ago. They don't need to aurally and visually assault everyone in their vicinity in order to feel validated. Their ability to shape public discourse and even overthrow governments on social media and other Internet forums enables them to say, "Hey, I matter!" in much more effective ways than boom boxes once did for their generation. The Twitter Revolutions in Iran, Egypt, and Ukraine demonstrate the immense power young people and others hold in their hands when they log on to tweet, post, like and unlike.

The Italian Mama is old enough to remember the fruitless sounds emanating from boom boxes and thanks the Internet for giving young people a way to be heard that matters.