Dude! Keep It Real and Be an Authentic Man!
I was visiting a friend who I had not seen in quite a while. Both of us are men deep into middle age who are members of Generation X. We have know each other for almost 30 years. We met when I lived in New England during the mid 1990s. We both are now in our late 50s. We are men who have managed to achieve success in our respective professions and, moreover, have settled comfortably in our careers. It was good catching up and reminiscing about old times and the fun, enjoyable and frequently adventurous days of yesteryear. All was good.
We engaged in some provocative discussions on a number of issues — politics, economics, the environment, race etc… And yes, we eventually got around to discussing gender. Both of us agreed that men and women are complex human beings and that we are both similar and different in many ways. The conversation took an interesting and pivotal turn when he began to discuss his college days. Jeff (not his real name) was a guy who hung out with what many of us would call a pretty intense crowd of men. He mentioned the fact that over the past few decades, how life has made him reflect on a number of his youthful experiences.
It was fascinating to hear him discuss many of the risky and in some cases, outright insane behavior that he and and some of the guys he used to hang out with indulged in. Although I cannot say that I…
