Baby Boomers Fade To Invisible

via dailymail.co.uk

How many times do you hear it among those of a certain age, like your age:

“No one notices me anymore.”

Men or women, they say it like it’s the biggest loss of their life.

What do they want, their own personal paparazzi?

No one worships at the boomer alter. They never did unless they had something to sell.

Retailers sold toys and clothes. They loved boomers for the sheer numbers.

Colleges sold education. It was an easy sell to kids whose parents jumped up to the middle class with a G.I. Bill paid education.

“I don’t know if I want to go to college” got a “You’ll go to college whether you want to or not” in response.

You get that when one of your parents is the first in their family to earn a bachelor’s degree.

It’s no surprise boomers embraced the counter-culture of the 60’s so whole heartedly. They didn’t want to drown in the flood of stuff they saw their parents swim in.

After a few years passed and boomers got married, had kids, and bought houses, they locked right into step with old traditions.

They didn’t want to ruin their neighborhood, didn’t want their house to be a regular police stop, didn’t want their kids to be the dullest knife in the drawer.

They joined the current version of PTA, volunteered in the classrooms, and attended city hall meetings instead of turning away and rejecting the life they found themselves living.

Doing that showed the same colors they once fought against: If it’s a crummy job and you’re doing it, you might as well do it as well as you can.

Boomers became over-achievers in some areas and resent the idea of others taking credit.

The inroads of the 60’s and 70’s belong to them, not the snot noses today repeating the same things like equal rights, equal pay for equal work, gender equality, legal same sex marriage, reproductive rights.

New voices saying old things rise above the media din. Older voices repeating the same things sound like a broken record.

Instead of getting encouraged to stand up, boomers hear they should retire, get out of the way, go shopping, dye their hair, lose weight, buy a luxury car, take a luxury trip.

The main thrust toward boomers is “We’re tired of hearing about you. You’re not the Greatest Generation. At least they had the decency to move on when their time came.

You’re the roadblock generation and the future is about to mow you down.”

Before you cry for the Invisible Boomer, remember how they didn’t give a damn about the social mores of their time.

They saw older men in ponytail hats pretending to be them. They saw grandmas in grannie glasses looking at them in their grannie glasses.

Boomers have seen both sides of the generation gap. One side was the WWII generation, the other side was the youth who roller skate on the roads they paved.

Ignore boomers at your own risk.

They might complain about feeling invisible, but push them hard enough and boomers fade to invincible.