What A Difference Generation Can Make!
“Hello, how old are you?” A simple question concerning
age can be insulting, very insulting. How dare we be
asked to give up our age!
You will likely receive the harshest response to the
question if you are addressing a senior adult. “My age?
… ladies never tell their age.” Solid advice here is to
quickly apologize and change the subject.
The fact is that the senior adult crowd is not old – not
in their mind. Also you are well advised not to refer to
this generation as being seniors or senior adults. Well,
that could be a little of a stretch but being sensitive
to their perception to age is always good manners.
Now that I’ve stirred up a bee hive with this kind of
rhetoric let’s hammer on another generation, the
Boomers. At sixty six I am technically a senior and a
Boomer but probably more accurately in today’s speak a
Boomer. By the way, I’m a young sixty six. No problem in
you asking my age. Go ahead, ask me.
Actually, to be a card carrying Boomer one must have
been born between 1946 and 1964. I didn’t coin that
statistic, the media and very smart people did it for
me. And, as advertised a Boomer has certain traits other
than birth dates. It is reported that my generation is
generally highly educated, affluent and, well, pretty
stubborn. You know what I’m referring to here, it’s the
having things my way attitude. A significant number of
the Boomers have taken that attitude description to next
level of “OK, I’ll let you have things my way”.
Generally speaking the Boomers are more technologically
savvy than their parents. That means Boomers are more
prone to think in the fast lane and demand what they
want sooner rather than later. However, virtues like
patience and perseverance belong to the parents’
generation. Actually, a more appropriate term for
seniors is “Traditionalists”. More descriptive and less
offensive, don’t you think?
Much has been written about these two generations but
prepare yourself for mountains more. Folks, we aren’t in
Kansas anymore. Generationally speaking we are stepping
into the biggest roller coaster ever conceived.
Embracing the challenges we face with optimism,
determination and faith is what it will take. Our
tumultuous ride has just begun. Having fun yet?
Let’s talk later.
Dooley Noted.
