A 'Real Person' Speaks Out

To the editors:

In reference to Dara Horn's editorial about "real" people (Opinion, July 10, 1998): I was born in 1973, but I'm still inclined to think of myself as a real person. I've been in the military since graduating in 1995 and married for almost a year now. In fact, I'll even be moving next month from an apartment to a house! Still a rental unit, but surely a step up the great chain-of-realness.

I'm writing to tell Horn that she should really get with the '90s when it comes to the notion of permanence. I consider my marriage to be a permanent part of my life, but that's about it. This is the decade of the temp. A "career" today is far more likely to be a succession of "temporary" jobs than a thirty-year stint with a single employer. This is true even for doctors, lawyers, computer programmers and others with reasonably marketable skills.

Horn's permanence paradigm just doesn't cut it anymore. It's not that her friends are in a state of denial about the passing of their studenthood; they just have a better grasp on the realities of today's marketplace--which isn't surprising, since they're real people, while Horn is, after all, just a student.

A few other things also suggest than Horn has an all-too-elusive grasp on the real world, like her reference to paychecks. Way passe! Anybody with any sort of a marginally permanent job these days (that's one where you're pretty confident you'll still be working tomorrow) has direct deposit. And rent! Paying rent is a clear sign of early-real-personhood (the stage where I still reside). Advanced (or real) real personhood involves shedding rent in favor of mortgage payments, thus assuming a debt burden even greater than your student loans.

For the record, I almost never eat frozen meals or Ramen noodles, and my spaghetti (always imported from Italy) is always accompanied by a home-made sauce. I have a real bed, all of the prints on my wall have been framed, and, having never seen "Ally McBeal," I prefer to identify with the show "Friends." I have no plans, however, to get rid of my halogen light. GEORGE S. SCHENIDERMAN '95   July 15, 1998   Albuqerque, N.M.