OREGON BABY BOOMER GRAY STREAK

Oregon baby boomer hopes for more in the home state.

In Oregon it’s more blue sky and sunshine.

More days of unexpected kindness.

More reasons to trust.

When it feels like your state, not just a current address, you need more goodness just to break even. And that’s if you’re lucky.

Live in Oregon long enough and you go from complaining about Californian’s moving up, Washington drivers, and Idaho beach combers to complaining about too many from Canada and Mexico, to just too many of everyone.

Too many turns into too much.

Like this solid scold for inaction, complaining is a step.

From remember.org:

They came for the Communists, and I

didn’t object – For I wasn’t

a Communist;

They came for the Socialists, and I

didn’t object – For I wasn’t a Socialist;

They came for the labor leaders, and I

didn’t object – For I wasn’t a labor leader;

They came for the Jews, and I didn’t

object – For I wasn’t a Jew;

Then they came for me –

And there was no one left to object.

Martin Niemoller, German Protestant Pastor,

1892-1984

The Oregon baby boomer just crossed over from north to south in a free fall. We’re the new menace, the aging boomer in an aging work force.

The Beaver State’s gray streak just got wider and there’s not enough Just For Men hair paint to tame it back down. But that doesn’t mean boomers won’t try to push that rope back in the bag.

How does that work?

A Safeway store between located between two Over-55 communities is an ideal place for research. The older people want to witness the lightning quick checkout scan of bar codes and produce pricing.

They feel less cheated if they watch the action instead of letting it start while they unload their cart, even if the checker is an Oregon baby boomer.

Younger people, moms with kids in particular, just want to keep things moving and get out of there with their stuff and kids in tow. Seniors do it differently.

If you’re not training your hawk eye on the numbers that fly buy on a cash register, you will. It’s part of the transition.

How did we go from eyebrow pencil beards and fake ID for underage drinking to fake ID for senior discounts at the movies; from changing the dream of an isolated cabin in the woods to a one way ticket for a King City chateau on Queen Victoria Avenue?

A retirement community means nothing until you get to retirement age. That’s when every slight in your normal life turns into a reason to move there.

Paper not on time? New meth house down the street? Might be time to take a closer look at ‘independent living.’

Does the senior community have a neighborhood association that takes care of the front yard? Is it a ‘lock and walk’ house in case you get a case of Snow Bird-itis?

None of it matters if you’re still working a 9-5.

Ask this about boomers: would Oregon jobs go to any group without complaints? Probably not, but one group doesn’t deserve any backtalk, and you know who it is.

The people on the job don’t want to hear any bitching about old workers, young workers, new hires, or long time employees. Do the job and stay, or don’t do the job and leave.

It’s that easy, and that hard.

Boomers are the last generation to grow up to the hum of V8 Detroit, the heat of Pittsburgh steel, and the sawdust of North Bend mills. They left the factories and log ponds for a future uncertain to all and they’re not walking back through that door any time soon.

Some went to school, others started small businesses, while more than a few fell into the death spiral of despair.

Keep this in mind with the new man or woman at your work. Gray hair means they’re more than another brick in the wall, more than another FNG.

If you find time to listen you might hear some background noise about a reality we all take for granted.

Baby boomer childhood is the last to leave real evidence of a real childhood. Who wouldn’t miss their Hopalong Cassidy pajamas and a Davy Crockett coonskin hat? Just saying the words brings a smile.

Look back on that time and see product branding at it’s finest. Rule #1: develop customers early.

The new person on the crew might have gray hair, but they are the last original link to those who laid the foundation we live on today.

That’s what you can expect from an Oregon baby boomer new to the crew. And they know the words to this guy’s songs.

You recognize him, don’t you kid? Well, don’t you? Here’s a hint: he saw a red door and wants it painted black.