GENERATION BIAS? LAY OFF BOOMERS ALREADY

Generation bias happens every day in every window, mirror, or any other reflective surface.

What is it?

It’s the sense of being replaced, but not by anything new.

The ‘old you’ has been replaced by the ‘new you’ and the new you is older than you anticipated.

The old you is the young you who was trying to figure everything out.

Got it?

Our elders seemed so settled and secure, at least to a ten year old.

As a full grown adult with a view of youth, middle age, and whatever this is now, I’ve figured it out.

With a lifetime of experience, along with fulfilling my biological imperative, I think I’ve got it.

The elders, the dads, granddads, moms, and grandmas, seemed so settled because they weren’t living in the Great Depression and eating boiled shoe leather for dinner.

They weren’t waiting for the “I regret to inform you” telegram in 1964.

From The Library Of Congress:

 

During World War II, Korea, and Vietnam, the military employed Western Union to communicate official notifications to the families of servicemembers.

This included letting loved ones know that their relative was missing in action, or had been taken prisoner, wounded, or killed in action.

With limits on how many words a telegram could accommodate, the military adopted distinct standardized phrasing to convey the news; hence, the common chilling phrase “I regret to inform you…”

 

Growing Up Calm And Serene

The elders saw boomers with a generation bias.

Why couldn’t we be more like them when they were young?

Speak only when spoken to, eat everything on the plate, and never complain because a lot of people are way worse off.

You’re not alone if you’re a boomer thinking the same thing about millennials.

Who made them king?

Oh right, we did.

We shielded them from the harshness of the world as we knew it.

They got time-outs for punishment instead of a horse-whipping.

We dropped them off at school instead of forcing them to chop their way through the woods, hop over coupled boxcars on train tracks, and walk uphill both ways.

Like we did. In the snow and rain. All year long.

Now that we’re near the top of the aging pile, we take shots from the rising generations.

We’re soft, stuck in our ways, turning a blind eye to world problems in favor of gazing at our own navels.

At least that’s the perception.

And they’re not wrong.

 

An Embarrassing Array Of Generation Bias

What’s the future look like?

Right now we’re living in the future promised to a ten year old in 1964.

We’ve got clean air with safe guards in place to keep it clean.

The same with water, cool, clear, water.

Marty Robbins agrees.

We’ve got sure hands steering the ship of state.

Everything is beautiful in its own way.

Ray Stevens agrees.

 

We shouldn’t care about the length of his hair
Of the color of his skin
Don’t worry about what shows from without
But the love that lives within

And we’re gonna get old again now
Everything is gonna work out fine
Just take a little time to look on the good side my friend
And straighten it out in your mind

 

I’ve got it straightened out in my mind like Mother Teresa when she said, “In this life we cannot do great things. We can only do small things with great love.”

As readers and writers we need to keep our eye on the ball.

 

 

While we continue to figure things out in the ever changing world we live in, keep the main thing the main thing and take those tiny steps toward it.

If you’ve got something to say, let it out.

If not words, then actions.

You might feel a little pressure on your head.

Or your foot.

 

Don’t worry, a little pressure is normal.

 

 

It’s like taking off a bandaid.

For best results get a grip and let ‘er rip.

Now get out there and do those small things.

 

Be the modern elder in the room who shows the old way things were done.

Dig fence post holes with a shovel, mix cement in a wheel barrow, talk about hard lives for life, not on occasion, and be glad to know the difference.

Or write a blog?

I don’t claim the title of Modern Elder, but I’m old enough.

In addition, I don’t write a blog like boomerpdx to change the world to my liking.

My goal here is to contribute to the common good, to create a path forward.

Here’s how I do it, which isn’t for everyone:

Your wife isn’t some kind of disposable item you upgrade.

Your kids are not a burden until they turn eighteen and disappear from your view.

Your community extends beyond your front door, be familiar with it.