I was recently able to schedule an appointment for the first of my two COVID-19 vaccinations.

It’s a somewhat strange feeling knowing that the day will be soon upon me, and I perceive my relative youth as a large factor. Since vaccine distribution began with the elderly, I’ve gotten used to hearing news that the older adults in my life have received their jabs. Having the opportunity bestowed upon me, someone with relatively less life experience, feels odd, despite that there are many ways that I just do not feel young. I find myself in a liminal state: not quite old, not quite new.

Emotions like this fuel my disdain of generational divides. I have never understood why one would restrict themselves to consuming solely products of their own generation, nor why the media would stereotype generations and pit them against each other in endless, mindless cultural catfights. But what draws more attention than a conflict that doesn’t actually exist or is warped out of proportion?

I experience positive and negative echos of the past daily: I listen to songs released years before I was born on the regular; I read news stories that call to mind history class discussions about the extinction of Jim Crow laws and lynchings—oh really? If someone hopes to stand a chance in today’s world, no matter their age, they have to know their history. Learning from the past is the only way to make actual progress; repeat your mistakes, and that’s one more dollar in the GoFundMe campaign funding complete societal downfall.

Speaking of history: after we’ve all got our shots, will the rest of the twenties be as roaring as they were one hundred years ago? I’d say they’re already pretty roaring—with absurdity and obscenity, that is. It’s pretty absurd that back in the day vaccines were viewed as miracles and now they’re viewed as microchips. Being in good health—mentally and physically—just ain’t cool anymore, it seems.

Well, I don’t care about being “cool.” I care about having common sense.

Inoculation, here I come!