Scanlines

by Todd Keisling

A video that haunts each and every one of them. It changes them. It’s a coming-of-age cheat code—one that comes with dire consequences.

The people who picked on us every day, called us names, bullied us every school year were the ones who went to church. Central Baptist in downtown Stauford was where all the hypocrites and sycophants went to jerk each other off on Sundays.

Generation Y, Millenials, whatever we were, we weren’t concerned about ancient doctrine or philosophy. Angels and devils were stories told to give us hope or scare us. All we wanted was to live, man, and enjoy our time while we could, come whatever may. Music was great, movies and games were great, and we couldn’t wait to graduate and leave our shitty little town. The horrors of 9/11 hadn’t happened yet, the economy hadn’t collapsed, and a gallon of gas cost less than a buck-ten. The millennium was coming up. The threat of Y2K was real and yet no one understood why.

We—I—grew up in a time when none of that mattered because tomorrow was a million years away. Even now, as my peers are back home living with their parents, unable to afford what society promised them twenty years ago, we’re all still living day to day.