FADE IN:

INT. A COFFEESHOP IN DOWNTOWN STOCKHOLM. A MAN IN A SUIT AND A WOMAN IN A SUMMER DRESS ARE TRYING TO DECIDE WHAT TO HAVE.

» Continued

Almost exactly ten years ago, I was in St. John's, Newfoundland, in Canada on a business trip. I remember being at the hotel room, and reading a magazine that I, until five minutes ago, always thought was the Rolling Stone. (I was trying to find a photo of the cover of that particular issue and became very hesitant. It might have been another magazine, like Fortune. I guess it really doesn't matter where I was reading the story, but this is just a bad habit of mine, bear with me).

What made this particular article so interesting that I still, ten years after, remember it? It was a story about the MTV trendsniffers. Sure, they probably had a better title in the real story, but you know what I mean: the people who work at the MTV and try to see where the youth culture is headed.

And ... in 1998, they said that the next big trend was ... niceness. And it made me so happy. I thought that there was something I could not only buy into, but also pioneer.

Unfortunately, I think the MTV people got it wrong then. Sure, the Backstreet Boys were nice boys, and Britney used to be so cute, but all in all, I think nice guys and girls have had to step aside. Too bad.

Not really. This is what do on vacation:



Staring out the window, chasing kids, and eating are not recorded by RescueTime.

There I was, holding hands with my two beautiful kids, my son and my daugther, hanging out at Finland's biggest Prisma store, when I saw the two huge signs that guide the customers to the toy section.

To the left: "Boys' toys". To the right: "Girls' toys."

And all I wanted was some little buckets.

What year is this?