I'm a Trendy Wendy, You're an Uncool Raul.

Society changes fads like a girl changes clothes. One year you're so in style that Calvin Klein is trying to get your opinion about his unmentionables, and the next everyone thinks you're more square than a GameCube, which will inevitably be back in fashion in a decade and a half anyways (or, more round than a record, which is vintage and "in").

Drugs are also a trend, I guess. A trend that doesn't end ever.

There are more than a handful of fads, or trends, to follow, including fads that aren't even fads. The thing about following things, though, is that sometimes people turn it into a metaphor. Suddenly you're playing follow the leader with the cool kid on the block. All that's fine and dandy, but then the cool kid has to go eat dinner or starts a new group of followers or something, and now all the people who were following don't have a leader and you're not going anywhere. What are you going to do next? Hop onto the next fad that passes by?

You can spend your whole life following fads and trends, and when you grow up and stop playing the same childish games you did as a kid you'll realize that you have no idea who you are because your entire personality was a carbon copy of the people around you. Is there any way to avoid it really, though? Fads aren't just an influence by the people around us; they're movies, TV, music, and clothes: Nike is a fad, too. Since the day we were born our personalities were being molded by the stimuli entering our brain. We are a product of the system we live in. So how can we change?

Not all fads or trends are bad. Some of them might be a little misguided, but there are some that are genuinely good. Don't follow any trend just because it's easy. If you can do nothing but follow easy fads, you need to spend more time developing your sense of self, worth, and intelligence. Go read a book or something, and stop giving into peer pressure.

 - Your etymology lesson for the day is inbound! While there are disputed origins for the word "fad" the most reasonable one is that it comes from the French word "fadaise," which means trifle or nonsense, and it makes sense that a fad, which by it's very definition loses it's value quite rapidly, is related to a trifle. That French word comes from the Latin word "fatuus," meaning stupid or ignorant. If you do nothing but follow fads, you need to be exercising your mind-muscles a bit more. Hey, I didn't call you stupid, the Latin language did!

So, my challenge to you young readers out there is to not be a blind follower, but be a trend-setter. Be the leader. Do inspirational things, because I told you to do so while using a cliche! Be the ball, Danny!

Or you could be a nega-fad, and wear clear glasses and plaid shirts and drink expensive coffee sold by a huge corporation, but only because it's ironic. If you find Bob Dylan on a vinyl, let me know; in the meantime I'll be saving up my cassette tapes for the next ten years so I can sell them for a fortune once they're vintage too.