Yesterday I had a meeting with one of our customers. We wanted to meet somewhere in the middle (the customer is from Luxemburg) and we chose Berlin. The distance from Wroclaw to Berlin is about 340 km so we decided to go by car.

As it is summer and no school in Poland, I took my oldest son (15) and one of his friends with us. They just wanted to go for a day to Berlin to see some museums and famous places. Everything went ok, the meeting was very interesting and my son and his friend were also happy with what they saw in Berlin.

But why am I writing this story? I remember when I was 18, maybe 19, I went to Germany for the first time. To West Germany to be precise. I needed a visa and a special invitation from someone who declared to host me during my stay in Germany. All this to get a permission to leave the “Soviet sector” of Europe. I was shocked with all these lamps, cars, billboards, clean streets, full stores and everything which I never saw before. I could drink cola, go to Chinese restaurant and see lots of things which I could see only on TV. I was extremely happy.

Now, after 25 years, I just jumped into my car, didn’t have to take a passport, asked my son whether he wants to go with me, called my friends and asked them to let their son to go with us and just drove to Berlin. Two boys left us on some parking in Berlin, took their mobiles and said goodbye to us asking us to call them when we will be ready with our business meeting. No emotions, just a one day trip to Berlin. They ate something on the street, drank cola, they even didn’t take a camera to share photos with their friends. Nothing extraordinary. They were exactly like thousands of German boys walking on the streets of Berlin. Same shoes, same jeans, same t-shirts, same cola in the hand, same mobiles, same smile, just no difference

The world has changed, Europe is completely different. Young people live in a different world as we lived. Life is easier – for sure. But do they have a better youth than I had? I don’t know…