Boomer Angst

Members of a tribe can often be its biggest critics. On its Editorial & Comment page, today's Globe & Mail newspaper has a piece rather oddly categorized as 'Boomer Economics'. It's penned by a journalist, Gary Mason, who has a 24-year-old son and, for that reason and from his head shot, he looks to be a shoe-in for a boomer. Mr. Mason is outraged at his son's terrible job prospects and he blames boomers for it: "Our kids could be a lost generation, but boomers don't seem too worried about it." Instead, we are racking up debt and hanging onto our jobs after 65. And we should be deeply ashamed.

Watching People Work

Last week I had the opportunity to watch two young men trim and cable a 50 foot black cherry tree. The tree is just outside my kitchen window and I found myself having several cups of tea while they performed their magic. There were two young men, one an experienced forester and the other a high school student getting his work experience credit. While they worked I made several observations.

The Me Generation and Body Breakdown

Leah McLaren points out in a recent Globe & Mail piece that: “boomers have a tendency to act like they were the first generation to experience life on Earth”.  As a consequence we are both amazed and in denial at how badly our bodies are holding up. Every generation before assumed infirmity, indeed was grateful to live long enough to get it. In contrast we don’t, and aren’t.

I can’t quite recall when I was first appalled to discover I might be a ‘senior’!