How Lucky I am by Marcy

How Lucky I am

            Czechoslovakia is what my country was called before the break up between the Czech Republic and Slovakia. It was November 17, 1989 when the capital city of Czechoslovakia, Prague, was changed by young students forever. This historic event was called the Velvet Revolution, which might make you think it was non-violent, but that is not true. It started as a peaceful demonstration of young students, which soon became a brutal attack against students by the police. The Velvet Revolution a was national rise against a communist regime and push to become a democracy. The Velvet Revolution brought numerous opportunities to many Czech citizens including my family.

            The Velvet Revolution affected many families and my grandparents were not exceptions. After many years living under a communist regime, people felt confused about the new rules and freedom, especially the older generation like my grandparents. My grandparents lived in a communist country their whole life and they had a hard time adjusting to the major change like traveling and job opportunities. My grandmother eventually found her way and started to work at a private company. My grandfather lost his job, and as an older person, he never went back to work.  My grandfather never fully healed and it had a big impact on their marriage because my grandfather was the leader of the family. Younger generations were amazed by how easy it was to travel without permission from the government. People could make their own decisions where they want to travel. The Czech Republic was full of many opportunities for jobs and people could learn more languages, and explore import goods from other countries.

            Another effect was coming with import goods from other countries.  The Czech Republic quickly became aware of drugs and sex. The head of Education in the Czech Republic started to fight this problem with school seminars teaching children about bad effects of drugs and “filthy” magazines like playboy, which my grandmother used to call “book from hell”. Pornography quickly became popular, and the Czech Republic became famous in that adult film industry. With young people trying drugs from around the world, people also learned about sexual diseases. Eventually, the country started a lot of antidrug programs to help to protect the people.

As a young girl during this time, I did not notice the opportunities I had that my mom could only dream about. I could study at any school I wanted, I had toys from around the world and I could learn foreign languages. My generation was taught two languages in high school and had opportunities to go for exchange programs. I remember my mom used to say “how lucky I am,” but I never understood what she meant. My mom was a teacher in a secondary school, and she loved her job. After new opportunities, she moved to a business company in the private sector.  My mom wanted to make more money so she could give my sister and me more opportunities to attend private schools and take us for family vacations. I was nine years old when my sister and my mom went for our first holiday. We took a flight to a town called Mallorca in Spain. I was the first person from my classroom that had been on a plane and everyone was so excited to hear everything about the sea, food and Spanish people.

        Adapting to new things, rules and laws is hard. My mother always said “How lucky I am”. I live in my generation of many opportunities. My whole life I have wondered if my grandparents would have been happier together if they still had lived in the communist regime. Sometimes I think people have too many opportunities, and they are not happy. I wonder if I would like it or not. I can see the positive things that I have gained after the Velvet Revolution. I can travel where I want, I can buy things from other countries and have many job opportunities in the Czech Republic and around the world.