Boomer Vision is a ‘thing,’ or it should be.
Butch Cassidy said it with, “I’ve got vision, the rest of the world wears bi-focals.”
The only way baby boomers don’t have vision?
They keep their eyes wide shut.
Without beating a dead demographic, the boomer generation starts in 1946 and ends in 1964, which means the oldest boomers are pushing eighty, the youngest past sixty, barely.
After a recent conversation, an enlightening conservation, I need to tune up my Boomer Vision.
It was a wide-ranging conversation, not my favorite kind.
My favorite phone conversation?
“Hello, this is David. Do you have the right number?”
The sooner I get off the phone, the better, but there are a few I’ll stay on with for their sake.
I call it helpful, but more of that in the third act.
What They Think We Want vs What We Want
They think our eyes are clouded by the images of our youth, like Jimi roasting his Stratocaster in 1967.
Well, this boomer was twelve years old in 1967.
I had a guitar that stayed in its case after my teacher at Jantsen Music moved away.
I didn’t think about it enough to set it on fire, but I’ve still got it, somehow.
For some reason I’ve been attracted to guitars.
Maybe it’s the shape, maybe the sound, but they are cuddly.
What they think we need in a guitar:
What we think we need:
What I’m looking for:
As you can see, Boomer Vision is bright and clear.
The Need For Better Boomer Vision
My sense of being helpful, insisting on being helpful, may be distorted.
In other words, my help is too often taken the wrong way.
During the phone call, the enlightening one, I wanted to be a good listener.
I see that skill with the vision I’ve got. Good listener? Check.
And I also wanted to help, so when we started going into the same things a few times around, I mentioned it.
Me: I’ve lost track. but is this the fourth or fifth time you’ve said the same thing? If you’re talking to someone more important than me, you want to be cognizant of it. Repeating yourself is either a habit, or the sign of a problem in your head.
That’s helpful, right? If someone said that to me, I’d take it as helpful. And rude.
Base on being helpful, I’ve learned that boomers are detached, out of touch, isolated.
So, like a good husband, I checked in with my wife.
Me: Are we detached, out of touch, isolated?
Her: I don’t think so. I feel well informed.
Me: Me too. How about the feelings of imminent doom? Do you get those?
Her: No.
Me: Huh. Me neither, but I did when the kids were young.
Her: All parents do.
Me: Ia that why we were so cautious with the kids?
Her: You more than me.
Me: I’m a Dad.
Her: You’re looking for a fight.
Me: Not with you.
Her: You want to fight anyone who wrongs me or the kids.
Me: What do you mean?
Her: You’ve said it yourself. Ever since you got punched in the face on NW 21st so many years ago you’ve been waiting for the opportunity.
Me: Call me patient. And well informed. Gene Hackman, his wife, and dog died today in Santa Fe, New Mexico. We probably drove by their house when we were there.
Her: He was born the same year as your Dad.
Me: He looked more like my Dad than any other movie star.
Better Vision For The Long Run
Boomers have a responsibility to keep up, to stay on the job.
What job?
The job of being a solid citizen.
The job description:
Avoid confrontations with authorities. We’re the age where the law may need to set an example.
Judge: You’re old enough to know better.
Boomer: Older than you.
Judge: Do you know why you’re here?
Boomer: What does the arresting officer say.
Judge: Disorderly conduct.
Boomer: Civil disobedience isn’t the same as disorderly conduct.
Judge: You should know better. This court will punish you to the fullest extent of the law.
Pay your taxes.
Just because you don’t have kids in school, you still reap the benefits.
Smart kids don’t ruin things, and if they do, and they’re smart, they can fix what they ruin.
Academically inclined kids can help others with school, but it starts early to get on the right track.
If parents can’t provide basic necessities, taxes can in the way of programs debated and passed in congress.
Removing those programs on a whim of savings takes away a chance at a better life for a kid.
A better life for a kid is what you’re paying taxes for.
Did all Baby Boomers get better lives because of higher taxes in their youth?
It didn’t hurt.
About David Gillaspie
