Good Morning,
Last weekend I watched a rather interesting discussion unfold regarding generational profiling on tHRyving.com. The main argument by the “Right” was that such did not exist and each person is unique and should not be unceremoniously crammed into a particular generational classification while the “Left” proposes that, yes we are all different, but… certain personality tendencies are shaped during our formative years, 10 to 18 and the significant events of the times. We then share these similarities with our cohorts of that time. Therein is the difference and what creates the generational gap. Now obviously, there will be individuals that span these significant times in our history and are influenced by both. There will always be others who will be outside of the sociological norms of any generation. I have known a few.
So, what I am referring to is the “mainstream group”, the cohort group that makes up the most numbers common to the personal tendencies influenced by events of that generation. I am a “Baby-Boomer” even though I was born right at the end of WWII and just before the 1946 demark in which most Baby-Boomers are classified. We are sometimes referred to as “The Pig in the Python” as we moved through society. Read Wendy Tandons comments on the blog about this.
I was 10 in 1955 when Rock ‘n’ Roll first started to emerge as a new music form. The golden years are considered 1954 – 1963. Right in the middle of my “cohort years”. Did that influence my taste in music? Duh! Of course it did and still does. I still enjoy simple lyrics and a heavy beat, but at the same time, I have also taken in other forms of music, even alternative, that has come along, excluding “Rap” of course, which I could never get my arms around. For some reason “Rap” and “Rape” sound a lot alike to me. It must be the pure vulgar ness and shock factor trying to be conveyed in the lyrics that turn me off. No class, but that’s my opinion. Maybe that is the purpose after all… to turn us Baby-Boomers off to this sort of sound. Well they succeeded with me. I just have a difficult time calling it music.
During my cohort years I was a Boy Scout. Still popular in those days, before the saying “Be Square” took on a different meaning. Yes, it was the Boy Scout Law that I memorized and remember to this day. A scout is: “Trustworthy, Loyal, Helpful, Friendly, Courteous, Kind, Obedient, Cheerful, Thrifty, Brave, Clean and Reverent. All twelve of them at the same time and still trying to be a “normal” teenager. Do you think that changed me? The other one was the Boy Scout Motto: “Be Prepared”. Well I’m still referred to as “such a Boy Scout” by those who know me. It could be because I carry a knife, flashlight, lip balm, painkillers, breath mints, flossing brushes, jump drive and screwdriver with me wherever I go. All that without a “Murse”. I still tend to look for these twelve traits in other people and unfortunately have a tendency to judge them at times when I do not find them. I do believe that people in general will trust a Boy Scout before most others. Could this be part of what makes up the “Baby-Boomer” moniker?
I was mid-teens when the Vietnam War started up and when just out of high school faced the possibly of being drafted into the service because of it. Many of my high school friends were and some came back in pieces and boxes, while others never did. Did this war shape my trust in the war decisions that our government officials make? Yep and not in a good way. Do I still mistrust the government in general, yep I do and the older I get the more cynical I become. Those twelve laws of the Boy Scouts rarely seem to exist anymore with our elected officials.
I was 15 when John F. Kennedy was elected to the Office of Presidency of the United States of America. He held the presidency amidst much turmoil about him being Catholic, a questionable war in Vietnam, Soviet missiles in Cuba, segregation in our schools and human rights (MLK) were just some of the issues. These issues affected us all in one-way or another, as they became part of our day-to-day. I was 18 when John F. Kennedy was killed by an assassin’s bullet. As I held Diana that day in November, we cried together for the loss to our country and I suppose a bit more of our innocence. Did those events shape the way I look at things as a Baby-Boomer? Yep.
While I was still 18, I joined NCR (National Cash Register) as a technician. It was white shirt, tie and purple fingers from changing ink on National Cash Registers for most of 16 years. It was a time when you joined a company as a career and not as a stepping stone to the next job a year or two later. You had really good health insurance, a pension once vested, stock options, life insurance, great technical education and the assurance that if you kept your end of the bargain, you could retire with them. Part of that was being to work “on time”. You could be fired and loose your career if late too many times. It was part of a “work ethic” of the times and well before “telecommuting”. My work ethic was shaped by these norms, and they are still with me today.
I am a ‘Baby Boomer” and I am proud of it. I do not mind the classification and I wear it proudly just like I did my Merit Badges in Boy Scouting. I lived through that eight years with my “cohorts” and those years shaped many of my opinions and perspectives that I still embrace today.
I cannot speak for the “Xs” and “Ys”, but I believe I can for the “B-Bs”. Are there generational gaps? I firmly believe that there are, for I see it in my children, I see it in my grandchildren and I see it in my employees. It is not a bad thing, it “just is”. For the dissenting “Ys” out there… I say, “Deal With It” for the “Zs” are just around the corner baby and then you will see what I’m talking about.
B-Bs forever! Or at least for the next 14 years.
Love, Dad
Citations:
Cartoon Image of Baby Boomers: New York Times Cartoon
Photo of JFK: Spartacus Educational
Photo of Citizenship Merit Badge: Boys Scouts of America
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