<p>"I think your view on young adults is misplaced. Certainly we are very self-centered, but it’s not as though I would spend an entire evening in a room full of adults saying absolutely nothing unless I was asked a personal question. Do you really know college students who do this? "</p>
<p>I taught college for 6 years, and my husband has taught college for almost 20 years. We’ve often invited over college students including for things like holiday dinners. At the college where he teaches, many students apparently were raised as you were – to not ask questions of adults, so it has been painfully difficult to converse with them. With rare exception, they say nothing unless asked direct questions. I got to the point of telling my husband not to invite his students over unless they really would be able to converse with us. It was miserable being around students who were so passive. They literally seemed scared to open their mouths. I don’t know how they’ll fit in when they leave college and enter their careers.</p>
<p>Meanwhile S, 20, has friends who were raised differently, and who are pleasures for me to be around. S and I even jointly hosted a board game/card game party over the weekend with his friends and my friends – ranging into their 50s. People all were on first name basis, and all seemed to be able to talk to each other and have fun. Our youngest guest was 2. The oldest was about my age, late 50s.</p>
<p>Lots of the students and adults were involved in theater as an advocation, so that helped a lot in that people who are involved in theater (and possibly the arts in general) tend to be able to relate across generations. The adults were in fields ranging from law, college educators, and massage therapy to being graduate students in the sciences and social sciences, and the college students ranged from engineering to political science majors. Conversations ranged from the arts to politics to hobbies, families and careers. </p>
<p>I love hosting and attending cross generational parties in which diverse groups of people can respect each other and have fun together. I’ve noticed that this isn’t something that most mainstream Americans do outside of their own family events. Immigrants and their families as well as people from some religions – Quakers come to mind – tend to do this as do, I think, Native Americans. Too often, mainstream Americans socialize by separating people by generations, and that’s why when the generations have to connect at family events, awkwardness ensues.</p>