Ayoub: Born in the wrong generation

Being born in the wrong generation makes me only wish that I could put Arwin’s time machine from “The Suite Life of Zack and Cody” to good use. I could go back to the era of twisting to Chubby Checker and salivating over James Dean in “Rebel Without a Cause.”

My generation is too caught up in taking selfies and obsessing over our social media accounts. That is what we turn to in our search for a meaningful experience of a true young adult life. Our version of fun is watching Netflix while sending photos to friends on Snapchat as we are lazily slumped on our beds.

What happened to teenagers going out and actually hanging out and having face-to-face interactions?

In “The Sandlot,” which was based in the 1960s, we find Benny “the Jet” Rodriguez always playing baseball with his group of friends at the crack of dawn. Each day, they would have a blast together playing their favorite sport or soaking it up at the public pool. Their summer was unforgettable and full of adventure.

I would much rather be spending my summer going to a Beatles concert or listening to Frank Sinatra’s music or, yet, going to a drive-in movie theater to watch the latest Hitchcock movie. That would be a good excuse to cuddle up to that cute guy in my friends list.

The celebrities of those days were so admirable and attractive. Audrey Hepburn constantly had an aura of elegance and playfulness around her. Marlo Thomas, star of “That Girl,” carried a similar aura with a dash of humor and good fashion sense.

Then there was James Dean, the bad boy who always had his hair perfectly styled with pomade to pair with his bulky red leather jacket. What I would give to have held hands with someone as manly and handsome as James Dean.

We may even blast forward into the 1980s, when “The Outsiders” came around and girls would be swooned by the Greasers in the movie played by the most swoon-worthy actors.

One day they could go out to the roller skating rink after school to meet up with all their friends to talk about their days. Afterward, they would all go to a diner to eat some burgers and blast some music on the jukebox to dance to after finishing dessert.

The dances at schools were probably all the rage too. At a sock hop, it would be so easy to boogie down to the solid tunes that the DJ would be playing on the turntable.

The circle dresses of all the gals would be twirling around their calves as their fellas would be dancing alongside them to upbeat swing songs like “In The Mood” by Glenn Miller or “Sing, Sing, Sing” by Benny Goodman.

If school dances were actually still like this, maybe I actually would have attended one in high school. Then again, the guys in high school now are much more immature than those from decades past.

Even with all the technological advances we have now, it’s not uncommon for a child to wail, “I’m bored!” while surrounded by the latest gadgets. People back then never had much, but they knew how to have a good time.

If I were ever able to get ahold of Arwin’s time machine and be transported into a time of jammin’ music, fashion and culture, I don’t think I would want to come back!

Samar Ayoub is a second-year student in pre-med concentration.