Zurich's emotional outburst

You know you are getting old when you don't recognise a youth cult nor understand what on earth it is about. I never really realised that Zurich might be at the cutting edge of the cult of youth: I always, mistakenly it might appear, assumed that the youths in the Limmatstadt were perhaps a little bit behind the curve in terms of their sense of style, and music, and dress. How wrong I could be.

For a couple of months now (years probably if I had bothered to open my eyes) I would have noticed that the was a new movement brewing in the Hauptbahnhof. (You may notice by now that I consider the Hauptbahnhof to be the melting pot of Swiss culture and the ultimate leveller of Swiss style). Back in the day, the HB would play host to the kind of kids who were modelling their look on rappers such as Eminem. Since I am currently sitting in Detroit I can testify to the fact that they were pretty close to the original look. But perhaps a little light on the bling and missing the all important Chevy Escalade.

Now the Eminem alikes have been replaced by an interesting new band: to my untrained eye I would call them 'Kids of Goth'. They have the same sort of dark hair and eye makeup, coupled with a prediliction for piercing parts of their bodies that I wasn't actually aware you could pierce (I mean where does the back of the stud go?). But in a significant departure from the rather dark Gothic norm (dark except for the occasion use of deep purple or if I remember correctly cherry red doc martins), these kids wear colour. Any kind of colour mixed together and thrown on, contrasting with their black hair and black eyeliner.

They also wear amazingly thin drainpipe jeans that I can only imagine they apply with a spatula. Anyone over the age of 21 wearing these things should be shot. On the spot.

I would never profess to be a fashion expert (I own a pair of Chelsea boots and a Barbour jacket after all) but these kids strike me as having a certain style. They also have an attitude. Not obnoxious, not unpleasant but an attitude nonetheless. On a train recently, I was sitting near a couple of these 'kids of goth' whose conversation, since it was in English, I couldn't help but overhear. They were articulate and intelligent. And above all, sensitive. Und wie. Their girlfriends. They feelings. Above all their emotions were discussed and described in huge detail.

I learn now they are called 'emos' (and I thank the tagesanzeiger for bringing them to my attention). Emos because of their emotional sensitivity. I also learn from the Guardian that they are regularly attacked, verbally abused and generally laughed at by their mainstream peers. Sad really. Still, they brighten up a dull corner of the Hauptbahnhof and make a change from Eminem. But I don't fancy their chances much on the streets of Detroit.