Generation O – Inaugural Giveaway

Remember when they gave us Generation X – which basically meant that were were hopeless slackers? Gee that was fun. We’d wallow in our Baby Boomer parents shadow, drifting aimlessly?

Even in The Way We’ll Be: The Zogby Report on the Transformation of the American Dream
, John Zogby is calling us the Nike Generation. The generation that really got sucked into media. Zogby says we’re cynical. We don’t buy into hope, we “just do it” like a Nike commercial tells us too. L-A-M-E.

Today is Inauguration Day, already they are branding our kids Generation O.

O for Obama.

O for Optimism.

I, for one, can’t say cynicism has gotten me one damned thing worth having. Oh, it’s gotten me plenty of depression, anxiety, fear and hopelessness. But, I’m over it. I’ve had my fill of it. Too cool for school? Don’t call me anymore. Going to sit back and complain about how much you hate the government because they can’t do anything right? Lose my number. Don’t talk to me at parties. Know the stimulus is never going to work? Keep it to yourself. Think Universal Healthcare is a disaster waiting to happen – stop wishing for your own destruction so you can be “right.” I’m looking for solutions. To find solutions you have to believe in trying.

Yesterday, I sat my children down and had them watch the Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. “I Have A Dream” speech. It was beautiful. Then I made them watch Oprah’s Inauguration special. Ainsley said, “This is is kind of boring.”

I saw something different. I saw millions of people volunteering, willing to pitch in where there is need. Millions of people waking with HOPE – remember HOPE?

I was 8 months pregnant with Ainsley when I saw the second plane crash into the Tower on 9/11. They said her Generation would be be defined by that awful moment. How horrible to be defined by an act of evil.

I prefer, Generation O – a generation growing up with a President who speaks hope not fear. A president who makes us all feel like pitching in and doing something different. A president who unifies not divides. A president who makes us take responsibility for ourselves as he takes responsibility for our nation’s policy, national and International. A president who calls us to Optimistic Action.

Yes, we can.

In honor of this super-awesome day (and not connected to last week’s Launch Party Giveaways – entries until Friday) I’m giving away one I Am Generation O onesie or t-shirt from genOtees.com. Contest will run for 7 days. I’ll draw from random.org.

All you have to do is leave a comment saying something optimistic and hopeful about our future as America.

Guess what it says on the back?