A high school drama class was performing at a local theater. Somehow an accident occurred and a hole was cracked in the stage floor. Carefully the performers avoided the damaged area until little Joey, juggling bowling pins, accidentally stepped through the hole up to his knee. He apologized to the audience for his clumsiness which caused a heckler to shout, "Don't worry, Joey . . . It's just a STAGE you're going through!"

We all go through stages, don't we? One of the stages that Generation X seems to be going through is a fondness for extremes. Note the popularity of extreme sports--sky diving, ice climbing, skateboarding, paragliding, and who knows what's next.

PARADE magazine sometime back described a fad in California (where else?). It was a version of soccer played barefoot with a …