BOOMER ANGLE: BE MORE ENGAGING

The boomer angle of working through life isn’t working so well.

The scummy people you see in the news talking from both sides of their mouth? They all aim for the boomer angle.

Mr. Trump himself is Boomer #1 in the line up. What happened?

A few years back I took a class to refine my approach to writing and business. You know, be more productive.

The Boomer Code of Honor starts with ‘Be More Productive.’ At least that’s what I’ve heard over the years. Nothing I’ve seen suggests be more of a jackass, but here were are.

For quick reference, the first boomers were born in 1946. I’ll do the math: The leading edge boomers are 74, (2020 – 1946 = 74.)

On the other end, the youngest boomers are 56, give or take.

So anyone between the ages of 74 and 56 are boomers, and they should know better. Lately, things have been a little disappointing. How disappointing?

The boomer tag in blogging is too worn to repair. My crack team of advisors told me to change the name of boomerpdx. Why? Because I’m not writing about boomers.

The boomer angle is about nostalgia and remembering and calling other generations soft because they didn’t go through the same gauntlet and survive.

Heads up to boomer proud folks: you don’t get a medal for riding in the back of a pick-up, riding a bike without a helmet, or playing in the mud. But feel free to ridicule helicopter parents who try and keep their kids safe in a way they understand safety.

There’s no trophy for surviving shitty teachers more interested in swinging a paddle on second graders for not finishing homework.

And before leaving the topic of ass whipping, no one gets a commendation for fondly remembering a parent beating them with an extension cord, a shoe, or a tree branch.

Boomers have taken over for the Greatest Generation without experiencing the hardships of the Depression followed by rationing during WWII. I asked one of those guys if they ever ate weird food in the 1930’s? They said they remember eating a lot of strange food. Or not eating.

If you’ve ever had food insecurity, you know the story.

Boomer Class Attendance

So I took this class that targeted boomers as a most lucrative market. At least that was my take. They have tons of disposable income to blow on crap, so make some crap and the market will reward the effort.

Except I’m a blogger, not a crafter, though I’m crafty enough to do things that take some craft skill. Not a craftsman, just crafty.

Do boomers read blogs about boomers by a boomer? Please. I have hundreds of Facebook friends. I post a link and five reliable readers take note with a like or a comment. The comments are on Facebook, which is good for Facebook, instead of on boomerpdx, which would be good for this blogger.

But, in true hardass fashion, I don’t complain, make shit up, or plead for readers. Please, please, please. Maybe I should.

Instead, I lay posts down straight from the heart. Is that good enough? Not with a boomer association in my URL.

The word I’ve heard is the term boomer in any mention is a turn-off. People see boomer and skip to the next site. My analytics show this to be true. Unless they are Evelyn Wood Speed Reading grads, I don’t think a ten second stop, or a two second stop, counts as a real visit.

Maybe it’s the Karen and Kevin phenomena where people need the comfort of their demands, especially during the covid era. News show after news show put their cameras on screaming people who need a haircut, a manicure, a pedicure, or just see their mug on the screen.

The most disappointing are the women who refuse to wear masks in public while carrying signs that say, “My Body, My Choice,” which works for them. But put the same sign in the hands of a Pro-choice woman outside an abortion clinic and no mask lady looses her shit.

Boomer Angle Takes A Turn

A local woman proclaimed her right to not wear a mask. Her reason?

“I believe in herd immunity,” she said.

The same woman came back from an overseas trip. Someone asked her if she was worried about the virus?

“Oh please, we don’t go to those sort of places. We were at a resort,” she said.

Like the virus knows who to get and who to leave alone.

Have you been in slow traffic and heard rap blast out of a car with the windows rolled up? My local virus denier has the same volume on Christian Radio.

Back to the boomer point, I’m renaming boomerpdx to move away from a boomer association and a Portland association. I get more hits from a bot in Virginia than those two, though nothing compares to my home base. Thank you, Tigard.

So far the front runners are davida.com since my middle initial is A. It’s taken by helmets and chocolate. Or DG.com, but it’s taken by Dollar General, and I don’t want to poach on Dolce and Gabbana.

Davidgillaspie.com is taken by Rock City Film Crew.

It looks like davidagillaspie.com is clear as of right now, but does it even sound right? I’m thinking I’d get used to it, but the idea of using my name feels like self-aggrandizement, and there’s already enough of that to go around.

I resisted the urge to name my boys Junior One and Junior Two, but this name boomerpdx has to change.

Leave suggestions in comments please.