European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - January 10, 1993, Darmstadt, Hesse Asking Why so Many salivate Over pacifiers by Michael Kaufman the new York times on the m train in Brooklyn last week the old Guy stared at a Young Man who was Unsel consciously sucking on a pacifier while nodding in hip hop rhythm to sounds from his Walkman. When the youth who was old enough to shave noticed the old Guy looking at him he smiled Back but did not remove the nipple two Days later the old Guy saw a Young Mother pushing a stroller Down 92nd Street at Broadway. Her child had a pacifier in her Mouth and so did the Mother. The old Guy did no to get it. He realized of course that the pacifiers were yet another affectation churned up by the yeasty mix of Street culture and Commerce but Young adults with teething rings were a pretty far and frightening cry from baseball Caps worn backward and pre slashed did they mean mystified the old Guy asked a group of Young people hanging out around the Frederick Douglass houses on Columbus Avenue about the pacifiers and what they a they re Nice they re butter a said one girl using a Slang expression for what in earlier Ages had been Slick neat Cool hip Fly. She had a Silver plastic pacifier hanging around her neck. Quot everybody has one a said her Girlfriend adding a you can bring them to school so Long As you done to suck on them a she said that in fact she and her friends just wore them. A a. _ a a. A a nearby at the la Orquidea Candy store of Amsterdam at 105th Street the owner showed a number of models. Unlike the baby pacifiers that inspired them they were not Imade of soft rubber but of hard plastic in Bright colors including chartreuse and fuchsia. The pacifiers costing a Dollar or two Are also sold at rap concerts. On some subway routes paddlers Hawk them from car to car. The pacifiers Are not yet and indeed May never become a genuine raging full fledged unavoidable fad like reversed Peak Caps. Indeed they May end up As an ephemeral Blip on the zeitgeist charts with Only the half life of a Batman to shirt but clerks in a number of stores say sales were still on the upswing. A 16-year-old boy named Danny Carballo who had been playing an electronic game in la Orquidea said a i done to Wear them but my girlfriends got them. Some boys have them but mostly its girls. 1 done to know Why. Maybe they re desperate.�?�. Desperate for what asked the old Guy. A desperate for ave Mything a said Danny. His Friend Sandro Avilla said the first time he noticed an adult with a pacifier was in the film Job yen the Hood in which one mate character prominently displayed and sucked on one. Danny volunteered that april of Neil also a had one of then when she was for the old Guys Benefit he identified april of Neil As Quot the reporter who goes around with the ninja the conversations were somewhat helpful but the old Guy was still mystified Why would anyone invest time and Money to make brightly coloured pacifiers to sell to people who had seethed Long ago what did these entrepreneurs know that led them to realize that there was a whole new pacifier Market out there ready to be exploited. Could it be the old Guy wondered that there was some kind of sardonic comment involved As if the pacifiers were a Way of saying Quot treat us like chit Dreili Well act like children of could Young adults be using the pacifiers to proclaim non belligerency perhaps signalling something like a look in a Pac if cd in a peaceful in a on reflection these explanations did not seem very convincing. It was time to seek expert opinion. A i think what we have Here is something very Basic a said or. John Ross a psychoanalyst and teacher at Cornell medical College who has studied and written about adolescents and Young adults. A in a Way its the logical Extension of the walk Man Only what is taking place is not just shutting out sounds of life but the direct expulsion of the entire _ adult world. Probably there is some irony in terms of the subcultures involved. People often express a need and make fun of it As a defense. That a what these Young people Are doing a expressing real needs and yearnings for dependency while seemingly making a Ross said that in Boyz n the Hood a Tough youth in a sometimes violent Macho culture used the pacifier to reveal himself As a a dependent Little baby this image Ross said has resonance on City streets. Ross also observed that shocking As the sight of a grown person with a pacifier was there was something fundamental and even honest about it a a it a not really ambiguous is it just pure Oral gratification.�?�. The old Guy thought it Over. Wasny to a pacifier better than smoking cigarettes drinking whiskey gorging on potato chips he told himself he should try to be More tolerant. The drive to stay on top of the in crowd by Frazier Moore the associated press s 1993 kicks into higher gear you can take Comfort knowing you re not wasting precious time worrying about what a out and what s in. Not you. You re from Sioux Falls s.d., which Money Magazine picked this year As americans no 1 place to live. But that a just a Happy coincidence. You Are your own person impervious to the opinions of others. A i want to see Aladdin says your wife. A a we la definitely see it Quot you assure her. Quot entertainment weekly gave it an you Are headed to the Broadmoor resort in Colorado Springs or maybe the Tali Timber resort in Durango. You re not sure which but who cares each got five stars from the Mobil travel guide. When you decide you la make a reservation on your car phone. Your new Chrysler concorde featured in so Many ads you resist it is whizzing your family along 1-90. With your escort laser radar Detector leading the Way you can drive like the wind. Now your wife has turned Back to the John Bradshaw motivational tape on her Walkman your son even though you told him not to is absorbed in Basic instinct on his . And you lulled by Rush Limbaugh ranting on the radio seize this moment to reflect on the year past. It has been a stressful time. For instance which new music format to go with digital compact cassette or that cute min disc and whom to believe Woody or Mia meanwhile concerns about late night television have been keeping you awake. Johnny Carson retiring Jay Leno in the lurch and Artsy David letter Man giving Abc anything but laughs speaking of Abc there a also that matter of ill Fly away. Your wife has sent by fax several letters to Abc protesting its threat to cancel the show. The biggest thing on television in 1992 was the democrats who Are definitely in. Still weeks after the election your kid wont give up his Ross Perot imitation. Nor will he Stop ending sentences with a not Quot and calling everyone he sees a a it looks like Fleetwood Mac whose music punched up the democrats convention last summer is in Vogue again too conveniently there is a new Fleetwood retrospective cd set. But the year Wasny to so Good for your Man Bruce Springsteen whose two albums few heard Over the Roar of guns n roses double whammy. And As if things weren to gloomy enough you just found out that Bill Wyman is leaving the rolling stones. As you drive along your kid keeps poking you with his Doc Martens Punk boots through your eight Way Power seat. Its hard to Tell for sure but he seems to be peeved. Maybe its because you did no to get him Madonna a sex Book for Christmas who can figure kids out slouched in the backseat he has on his usual baggy jeans their stride Down to his Knees. His Patron Saint is evidently Singer Marky Mark who seems never to have figured out that pants can be fastened at the Waist. Your son is also disgruntled about this Outing by the Way. He keeps saying he Only wants to go to Cicely Alaska of All places sometimes fantasy gets the better of him. But truth be told that sort of thing sounds Good to you too. Back to nature. The glorious out of doors. Earlier you had considered escaping the whole family thing and slipping off instead to a wild Man weekend. Drumming. Sweat lot Ges. Chanting with other men discovering your inner male. A no Way Iron John a your wife said Quot this is going to be a family Quot Arentt family values out since november a you cracked but she did t laugh. You could have taken the family to new York City and witnessed the latest teen fad wearing pacifiers around their necks. Or you could have gone to he Caribbean. Fondly you envision your wife in her Cole of California Bikini with the inflatable top. Meanwhile you could have shown the world your new pectoral implants. But All that would have meant getting out in the Sun. That s definitely out. Health is in just look at the president elect. He May eat at Mcdonald a but at least he jogs to get there. Now you glance Down at your wrist at your Breiu Ling Chronograph. It tells you that when you get where you re going you can pull out your sub note Book computer and tap out what you owe thank goodness it came with extra memory. January 10.1993 sunday a Page 7
