Trusting those who've gone before us

Emily is spending time with her two college roomates today. One of them is pregnant and the other is getting married in November, so with all the life changes coming, they are trying to catch up a little. Not really like a last hurrah or anything, but perhaps more of a time to remember before both of them move on to these significant next stages...but that is not what I'm really thinking about.
I've been reading Don Miller's newest book To Own a Dragon, Reflections on Growing Up Without a Father over the last few days. He has a chapter in this book called The thing about choppy air which has just put me in a different place. The chapter is basically about how pilots flying routes across the US will check in with pilots ahead of them on the same flight path to see how the weather is and then they will pass on information about what sort of turbulence and stuff they are currently flying thru. I've never really considered things this way, but it really hits home with me. When i think of the men that I know, I'm really forced into the reality that most of us are out of touch with the generations of men before and after us. Don talks about it being an issue with authority and I agree as I see very clearly in myself the same stuff and I grew up with a dad. I think it is an indicator that this has become a part of our culture and I find it both confortably part of my identity and heartbreaking at the same time. Confortable when it is me and heartbreaking when it is some other guy I've come into contact with.
Maybe what seems important for me in this is the realization that I don't want to be the sort of guy that is out of touch with the rest of the world. I would like to avoid being a 40 year old teenager sitting in a coffeeshop with his giant techno phone, Five hundred dollar Italian shoes and "product" induced Fauxhawk scoffing at my parent's generation's mistakes.
I also don't want to get cynical towards the youger guys out there that seem so lacking in responsibility and drive. Don's book is a good shot of humility for me and is forcing me to be less judgemental, but it goes deeper than that. It is not enough to just tolerate. I also need to reach out in a non-condescending way to younger guys that are trying to figure things out and in the next few years try my hardest to stay in touch with what my boys are experiencing.
If you are reading this and thinking that my words aren't very profound, that is A-OK. You'd be better off reading Don's book anyway. I'll be doing just that and will fill in more as I figure it out.