Plagarism and the Web The Internet Can Weave

In 2001, I qrote a piece called, "Quarter Life Crisis" and had it published in PAY Magazine in Washington, DC. Unfortunately, someone decided to post it on the internet as an email forward (without attribution) and it found it's way on numerous blogs around the world. Some tried to take credit but after hearing from me and seeing the original piece, quickly apologized, changed attribution or took it down all-together.It's flattering that so many people related to the piece but sad that some would try and take credit for work that was inspired by my own life and the lives of those I care about. Every line in the piece is about someone in a group of 8 close friends.Either way, I am pleased to share the piece with all of you as it's precious to me for many reasons, the main one being it was written when I was just dreaming of becoming a writer full time. How funny that all of those worries led me to a bit of tranquility.Here is the piece. I hope you will enjoy it.The quarter life crisis.
It is when you stop going along with the crowd and start realizing that there are a lot of things about yourself that you didn’t know and may or may not like. You start feeling insecure and wonder where you will be in a year or two, but then get scared because you barely know where you are now.
You start realizing that people are selfish and that, maybe, those friends that you thought you were so close to aren’t exactly the greatest people you have ever met and the people you have lost touch with are some of the most important ones. What you do not realize is that they are realizing that too and are not really cold or catty or mean or insincere, but that they are as confused as you.
You look at your job. It is not even close to what you thought you would be doing or maybe you are looking for one and realizing that you are going to have to start at the bottom and are scared.
You miss the comforts of college, of groups, of socializing with the same people on a constant basis. But then you realize that maybe they weren’t so great after all. You are beginning to understand yourself and what you want and do not want.
Your opinions have gotten stronger. You see what others are doing and find yourself judging a bit more than usual because suddenly you realize that you have certain boundaries in your life and add things to your list of what is acceptable and what is not. You are insecure and then secure. You laugh and cry with the greatest force of your life.
You feel alone and scared and confused. Suddenly change is the enemy and you try and cling on to the past with dear life but soon realize that the past is drifting further and further away and there is nothing to do but stay where you are or move forward. You get your heart broken and wonder how someone you loved could do such damage to you or you lay in bed and wonder why you can’t meet anyone decent enough to get to know better.
You love someone but maybe love someone else too and cannot figure out why you are doing this because you are not a bad person. One night stands and random hook ups start to look cheap and getting wasted and acting like an idiot starts to look pathetic.
You go through the same emotions and questions over and over and talk with your friends about the same topics because you cannot seem to make a decision.
You worry about loans and money and the future and making a life for yourself and while winning the race would be great, right now you’d just like to be a contender!
What you may not realize is that everyone reading this relates to it. We are in our best of times and our worst of times, trying as hard as we can to figure this whole thing out.