- Joined
- 4 Aug 2021
- Local time
- 9:37 AM
- Messages
- 12,079
- Location
- Caracas, Venezuela
- Website
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I must admit, I believe it's ridiculous that we have to put everyone into categories. so-called Baby Boomers are from the 50s and 60s. I'm one of them. We were taught to do everything, and to do it ourselves. Mum, dad, teachers at school would show us how to sew, iron, wash, cook, chop wood, dig the garden, etc., and then it was up to us. If there was no bus available, you walked. It was still post-war, there was no TV ( at least, not in my house), no internet, we didn't have a car until I was 14, tomatoes, strawberries, lettuce, plums, were only available in season. No-one in my house ever used garlic, balsamic vinegar, kimchee, or olive oil: olive oil was in the bathroom cabinet to remove ear wax.
I'm not complaining. It was what it was. There was still rationing in the UK until 1957.
Each fiendishly categorised generation had something new in its life, which marked how they acted, reacted, thought and worked. Rock music in the 60s and 70s, cars and colour TVs in the 70s, easy transport abroad in the 70s and 80s, computers in the 80s and 90s, internet in the 90s, 2000, cell phones/mobiles in the 90s, 2000s, etc., etc., etc.
As we get older, we either adapt or get left behind. Many of us are left behind these days because we can't fathom out DNA, or LGBT, or air fryers, or AI, or how to download an app to pay bills instantly, but there's no point blaming the newer generations. It is what it is. I absolutely hate seeing people glued to their phones,even in a restaurant or a party, rather than actually talking to someone and socialising. I think it's gross bad manners, but I'm not going to be able to change it, so I'm not going to worry about. That's their problem, not mine.
I know a good few "baby boomers" here in Venezuela who have never held down a job and have lived off their parents - because they were thoroughly spoiled by their parents (especially the men, the "macho" in the family), given everything and never taught to be independent. That's not their fault; it's the way they were brought up. I've seen lads from my eldest son's group (b.early 1980s) become millionaires, and others who are just a waste of space and have no ambition. I know kids here ( they're mostly under 25) who've come up with some brilliant ideas and have become successful; others have fallen by the wayside. It's not a "generation" thing; I'm ever more convinced it's what Charles Darwin described as the survival of the fittest.
I'm not complaining. It was what it was. There was still rationing in the UK until 1957.
Each fiendishly categorised generation had something new in its life, which marked how they acted, reacted, thought and worked. Rock music in the 60s and 70s, cars and colour TVs in the 70s, easy transport abroad in the 70s and 80s, computers in the 80s and 90s, internet in the 90s, 2000, cell phones/mobiles in the 90s, 2000s, etc., etc., etc.
As we get older, we either adapt or get left behind. Many of us are left behind these days because we can't fathom out DNA, or LGBT, or air fryers, or AI, or how to download an app to pay bills instantly, but there's no point blaming the newer generations. It is what it is. I absolutely hate seeing people glued to their phones,even in a restaurant or a party, rather than actually talking to someone and socialising. I think it's gross bad manners, but I'm not going to be able to change it, so I'm not going to worry about. That's their problem, not mine.
I know a good few "baby boomers" here in Venezuela who have never held down a job and have lived off their parents - because they were thoroughly spoiled by their parents (especially the men, the "macho" in the family), given everything and never taught to be independent. That's not their fault; it's the way they were brought up. I've seen lads from my eldest son's group (b.early 1980s) become millionaires, and others who are just a waste of space and have no ambition. I know kids here ( they're mostly under 25) who've come up with some brilliant ideas and have become successful; others have fallen by the wayside. It's not a "generation" thing; I'm ever more convinced it's what Charles Darwin described as the survival of the fittest.