One of the quotes in one of the later Narnia books, about Susan, was to the effect of her being at the stage where she wanted to grow up as fast as possible and then stay the same age forever, and I think that's what a lot of kids wanted. They didn't want to be tied down with a dead-end job and kids to feed and all the other 'adult' baggage.
No, I didn't want to "be a grown up". I wanted some of the privileges that some grown-ups seemed to have, certainly (being able to go to bed however late they wanted, and being able to buy stuff, and do things without being told "you're too young") but not the other things that go with it (falling asleep at work, work itself in order to buy stuff, being told you're "too old" to do things which are fun), and I knew too much about those negatives to want to go there (because I saw them in adults I knew). And I knew, even then, that unless you are independently wealthy you don't get to play Batman even as an adult, and that most adults were too busy or tired (or broke) to have much fun, and similar quid pro quo (and you got a lot more quo for a quid in those days!).
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branchandroot
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Date: 2011-06-08 08:50 pm (UTC)No, I didn't want to "be a grown up". I wanted some of the privileges that some grown-ups seemed to have, certainly (being able to go to bed however late they wanted, and being able to buy stuff, and do things without being told "you're too young") but not the other things that go with it (falling asleep at work, work itself in order to buy stuff, being told you're "too old" to do things which are fun), and I knew too much about those negatives to want to go there (because I saw them in adults I knew). And I knew, even then, that unless you are independently wealthy you don't get to play Batman even as an adult, and that most adults were too busy or tired (or broke) to have much fun, and similar quid pro quo (and you got a lot more quo for a quid in those days!).