It’s your turn now…

I just finished reading a rant from a member of the generation who are now in their late 30s and mid 40s. They are the Gen Xers. They are the children of the Boomer generation. I am a Boomer. I sympathize with the “squeezed” generation but they don’t have a corner on disappointment. My parents were conscripted into WWII and the Korean War. Boomers were conscripted into Viet Nam. Conscription in the US lasted from 1940 to 1973 when Congress abolished it in favor of an all volunteer military. So the majority of Gen Xers have not had to register with Uncle Sam for Military Duty and sweat out the possibility of being sent overseas to some rathole of a country to fight and die or to come back horribly maimed and emotionally traumatized with “shell shock” or PTSD. Everyone now can CHOOSE to go to some rathole overseas and get blown up by an IED and come back with PTSD (which has finally been recognized as a legitimate disability). Beyond the specter of watching the Viet Nam war rage on the TVs nightly newscasts from the early 60s through the mid 70s, my generation spent a majority of those years in civil disobedience to “end the war”. (I recommend renting “Fog of War” on DVD to understand why we had to fight to end the “never-ending” Viet Nam war.) We demonstrated for “civil rights”, gender equality in the workplace (Obama finally signed “Lilly Ledbetter” in 2008), and we did smoke a lot of pot. We paid cash for our healthcare and if we could afford health insurance, we filed the claims ourselves and waited months for reimbursement. Few employers provided health insurance coverage. The countertop microwave oven was first introduced in 1967 by Amana, but it was still too expensive for most households till the 1970s. Cell phone testing was permitted by the FCC in Chicago in 1977.  The first Apple computer was available commercially in 1977. Email was invented in 1971, global networking in 1973. Desktop computers were viable in 1983. So Boomers grew up writing love letters on paper and mailing them at the USPS. If we wanted a more immediate communication we called the object of our affection long distance from a land-line tethered to the wall in the kitchen where there was no privacy. Photos were taken with a regular camera and film and it took a week to process the film. (No X-rated photos were allowed.) Color pics were a luxury. Some other luxuries were automatic transmissions, dish washers, motorized lawn mowers, and air conditioning, We worked part time jobs and saved for a “rainy day” because by the time we were 18 years old, we were expected to find a job and “pay our own way”. My first job at a for-profit company was working at JC Penneys in the record-keeping department for $2.50/hour. I worked my way through college at an insurance company, selling funeral plans for a mortuary, and modeling for art classes at University of Texas. I graduated in 1971 with a BA in art. My first job was at another insurance company, keeping records. Complaining was not an option. I kept looking for a job in my field. I started my own company in St. Louis in 1975 designing business cards for clients and worked my way into more “artistic” designs. All of my “equipment” was paid for and I had 6 months of living expenses put away in case the business failed. Not exactly the glamorous life of an artist that I had envisioned when I graduated from UT, but I persevered. So to those Gen Xers and the current generation, the Millenials, who are disillusioned with the state of their world, this is your time to protest, demonstrate, create a new paradigm, change the dialogue. Don’t complain, and move your collective ass(es). I’m old and tired and I have participated in changing the social contract for my generation. It’s your turn now.