Jennifer Anne Kogler

Did you know that, according to the Los Angeles Times, more than 18 million fledging adults are out of college but not on their own?

In fact, in that very article, they go so far as to call it a ’syndrome’.

How dreadful.

There are a large variety of reasons for the Boomerang Kid: a tight job market, low salaries for entry-level jobs, the high cost of rent and large student-loan debts, making it difficult for many to afford independent living soon after graduation. It goes on to say that 25 percent of people ages 18 to 30 lived with their parents when the last census was taken.

Something just occurred to me: why am I summarizing an article that you can check out for yourselves. My blog is turning into a book report. That’s why they invented links, so here’s one:

http://www.latimes.com/features/lifestyle/cl-et-grads18jul18,0,952241.story?coll=la-home-headlines&track=hppromobox

In any event, information about kids living at home hits home with me because, well, you can count me in that number. I am a Boomerang Kid. Though I feel I’m more ‘boomer’ than ‘rang’ it feels good to get that off my chest. I have slept in the same twin bed, on and off, for 24 years. But the past year and a half has been great — it’s a position I wouldn’t have expected to be in, but getting to know your parents as a full-blown adult is something not everyone experiences.

I had my reasons for living with the stigma of ‘living at home’ — paying rent while I was on tour seemed silly, I know home is conducive to writing without distraction, and you’re not going to believe me when I say this but I like my parents. Yeah, maybe they’re slipping tranquilizers into my oatmeal in the morning and then carrying out an extensive Sensory Deprivation Program, but you know what they say: brainwashing is bliss.

But with my second book almost under wraps, I am contemplating “life on my own,” planning to leave the warm nest of my parents. And I’ll be very sad to leave, when all is said and done. Actually, I’ve been doing a lot of wondering: I think I may very well have lost the ability to socialize with people my own age. After all, living with my parents the last year plus has brought about a few significant changes in me, changes I’m not sure will put me in good standing with my own generation. For instance:

• I’m very concerned with the current state of Medicare.
• If I don’t get to watch Jeopardy at 7pm, nightly, I get very cranky.
• I think Alex Trebek is sexy.
• I’ve learned the regulatory value of prunes.
• I’m pretty sure that most everybody’s ‘no damn good.’
• I’ve been known to grouse about how much paper the AARP wastes with mailings.
• I now believe that things were a lot better ‘way back when.’
• I’m not sure what I’d do in the morning if I couldn’t read the 4 daily papers delivered to my home.
• I’ve picked up the habit of calling my computer a ‘newfangled device’.
• I’ll never understand what all the fuss is about these ‘blogs’.

So, what do you think? You think I’m going to make it on my own? Yeah, I’m pretty skeptical, too.

Keep your fingers crossed and remember to take your vitamins,
Jennie