AM I THAT OLD AND PATHETIC?
I attended the Green Tie Ball on Saturday evening as a guest of Horseshoe Casino. My tuxedoed escort was Mark Salvador who is Director of Casino Marketing for the property. Mark is a blog follower so I know he will read this and expect me to report how handsome he looked. My doormen were quite impressed when a stretch limo pulled up and massively tall and gorgeous Mark exited the car to pick me up. I should have let the doormen believe I had a date that was such a hunk, but I told them the truth that he was just a friend. Stupid of me not to let “building buzz” enhance my reputation!
At the party, Mark introduced me to two of his friends, Rob and Laura. I immediately remarked that their names would be easy to remember because they were the same as Rob and Laura Petrie. The response was a blank gaze. I said, “You know Rob and Laura Petrie from The Dick Van Dyke Show.” More vacant stares. “Dick Van Dyke and Mary Tyler Moore? The show plays on Nickelodeon.” If I had mentioned the name of ousted Honduran President Manual Zelaya, they could not have been more clueless!
This encounter was the first time that I really felt old and pathetic!
The term generation gap first became popular during the 1960’s and edified the cultural differences between children and their parents. According to Wikipedia, “although some generational differences have existed throughout history, because of more rapid cultural change during the modern era differences between the two generations increased in comparison to previous times, particularly with respect to such matters as musical tastes, fashion, culture and politics. This may have been magnified by the unprecedented size of the young generation during the 1960s, which gave it unprecedented power, and willingness to rebel against societal norms.”
I am part of the Baby Boom generation ( 76 million babies were born during the post World War II years) , and while I was not a liberal counter-cultural hippie, I still think I was”cool.” Jerry Rubin founder of the Youth International Party is probably famous more for his quote, “Don't trust anyone over 30,” then remembered for his leadership of anti-Vietnam War protests. We bought the concept because we were never going to be older than 30! That was too many years away.
My generation is now not only older than 30, we are older than 50 and there are more of us than there are of any other generation. You would think because of our vast numbers we would “rule,” but we don't. Daily advances in technology have caused us Luddites to be light years away in understanding how to correctly social network and connect with people.
My generation believed in free love; today’s generation just looks at naked pictures on the Internet. Who do you think had more fun?
Blog follower Susan writes:
ReplyDelete" Kathy, I enjoyed and laughed at your comments about getting older. I am currently working with 3 other teachers, 28, 34 and 39. You can't imagine how many times I make a refrence about something and get the same looks. I now begin my comments with a brief historical commentary, to "set up" the story.
But the up side of working with "youngsters" is I get all the tecnological help I could ever want with my cell phone, texting, etc. Some of my "old" friends are amazed at the things I know how to do!
My Mom always tells me it is important to have younger friends to keep you young. And I guess at some point, to have some who can hear and walk on their own!"
As a Baby Boomer, lots of things I say go way over the heads of the people I work with, who are in their late 40s at most. I don't think any of them even saw a manual typewriter. I learned on one freshman year in high school before we got switched to electric in sophomore year. When the self-correcting typewriters came out, that was a big thing!
ReplyDeleteAnd carbon paper - none of them ever had to worry about making mistakes and correcting the carbon copies. They don't even know what cc on the bottom of a letter originally referred to.
Morgan Mandel
http://morganmandel.blogspot.com
http://www.morganmandel.com
EDITOR'S NOTE
ReplyDeleteBy mistake I wrote LAURIE PETRIE in the blog when I meant LAURIE PETRIE. I corrected the mistake after Fan Club Presidnet Sue pointed it out to me!
Fan Club President Sue writes:
ReplyDelete" The first time I felt old was when the young snip at Pollo Loco gave me a senior discount!!! I would be the last person on this earth to ask for that! I never went back!"
Baby Boomers believed in something and they fought for their beliefs; my generation believes in fads, fight and stands for nothing. With all our technology we are still clueless.
ReplyDeleteBlog Follower Bob writes:
ReplyDelete"I remember the first time I felt, maybe not old, but truly adult. I was 16 or 17 and waiting for a streetcar -- yes I a much older than you and I've always taken public transportation. As I stood waiting, two boys whom I figure were seven or eight approached as asked, "Mister, do you know what time it is?"
Blog Follower Margaret writes:
ReplyDelete"Kathy -- You had trouble with Rob and Laura reference, think the response somebody like me of even more advanced years gets when I refer to Fibber McGee's Closet. The sweet young things under, say 60, have no knowledge of that wonderful radio sitcom couple of the 30s and 40s.
That will probably continue and increase in the future. With the proliferation of media and the hundreds of choices, there will no longer be a common popular cultural experience. In the old days there were three networks, local newspapers, a few national magazines, local radio, movies and that was about it. Now hundreds of cable tv possibilities, millions of websites, lots of specialized magazines, a few newspapers. and movies usually far too violent to attend. Difficult to find somebody who is reading or watching the same stuff you are.
But then, it is such technology and advances that have brought us the Kathy Blog, which certainly enriches the lives of all man (and woman) kind throughout the Universe !
Blog Follower Katie writes:
ReplyDelete"I literally went.. “Who is Rob and Laura Petrie?” Lol.. Guess I am in that generational gap. "
Follower Margaret also wrote:
ReplyDelete"I remember when the boomers were dismissed as misguided and dangerous. Every generation has it good guys and bad guys. That's why they have had jails since the dawn of time. People are people."