Now it's March, 2003. I'm a couple months from 30 and live in San Francisco, where everyone and their dog is against war by default. And now we have Bush Jr. calling the shots. Who would have ever dreamed that my generation would get two Bushes in the White House, and two gulf wars with the same evil despot. Really, it stretches the imagination. In the movie version, we'll at least be creative enough to have a new villain.

I hate this war, even more than the last one, but not for the same reasons. I hate this war because I just can't be motivated to care about it this time around.

I, like most Americans, didn't see why we needed to drop bombs on a country that's already suffering. And I, like most Americans, think that Saddam is a big jerk, and would like to see him in prison for all the bad he's done. Which is why I, like most Americans, just hope this is over soon, and without too much blood.

And I, like most Americans, fear the worst.

These gulf wars are the bookends of my generation. From 17 to 29, from high school to a salary, from home to away, from the last glimpse of childhood to the first glimmers of middle age.

I miss the certainty I had during the first gulf war. I miss being a teenager and knowing, really knowing, that this was wrong. I miss having all the answers.

My moment of truth for this gulf war was not protesting. As hundreds of thousands of people shut down downtown San Francisco, I was working. In 2003, like in 1991, the economy here is so bad, those of us lucky enough to have jobs just want to keep them.

I hate this war for reminding me that I'm almost 30, and life isn't simple anymore.

Where have these bookends found you?