OK, Boomer — Celebrate Your Gray!
If you’re a baby boomer, keep your head up! You still have a lot to contribute.
When Chlöe Swarbrick, a member of the New Zealand Parliament, replied to a heckler by saying, “OK, Boomer,” it got worldwide attention. Apparently she, and many others these days, consider that term to be a masterful put-down of the baby boomer generation, that cohort of individuals born between 1946 and 1964.
I’m one of those people, and I have a head full of gray hair to prove it. When I hear, “OK, Boomer” I know exactly what it means. It’s an expression of disrespect, a way of saying to my generation: “The world has moved on from you. You have nothing worthwhile to say, so who cares what you think.”
As a former football player, I learned long ago that in order for a forward pass to be completed, the quarterback must throw it, and the receiver must catch it. If the receiver doesn’t catch the ball thrown to him, the pass is not completed, and the play is dead.
Well, I refuse to catch what the “OK, Boomer” crowd is throwing. As far as I’m concerned, it’s just a dead play.
I don’t look at my gray head as any sort of negative. On the contrary, I wear it as a badge of honor.
First of all, just making it to the point in life where most of my hair is gray is a great blessing. Every day on the news we hear of people who die unexpectedly at a young age. (As I write this, much of the world is still mourning the death of 41-year-old Kobe Bryant and his 13-year-old daughter, along with seven others, in a helicopter crash). Every day of life that is given to us ought to be treasured as a gift from God.
That reminds me of what the Bible has to say about gray hair:
The glory of young men is their strength, and the splendor of old men is their gray head.
Proverbs 20:29 (NKJV)
A head filled with gray hair ought to speak of a life well-lived, crowned with wisdom and honor. That’s what I want my gray hair to say about me! My head of gray should mark me as an “elder” in my community, one who can be looked to for wise counsel (backed up by wise practice) regarding the issues of life. And if there are some today who feel free to communicate their disrespect for the gray hairs on my head… well, let’s just say that they’ll probably gain some wisdom about such things as they grow older themselves.
On the other hand, a person who has a head of gray, but who still thinks like, talks like, and acts like someone who has learned very little about how life works, is a tragic individual. Gray hair ought to mean something! But even if a person’s life was not so well lived at the beginning, it’s never too late to begin gaining and applying the wisdom that should be signified by the graying of your head.
A head full of gray hair ought to speak of a life well lived, crowned with wisdom and honor. That’s what I want my gray hair to say about me!
So, I take my head of gray very seriously. When I interact with other people, it’s in my mind that at this stage of my life, I have a responsibility to function as an elder. That doesn’t mean I should expect younger people to listen with rapt attention as I pontificate about whatever subject catches my attention.
But it does mean that I must be intentional about speaking and acting with deliberation rather than rashness, with proven wisdom instead of superficial glibness, with the best interests of others at heart instead of for my own personal advancement.
When I look at younger people whose heads as yet show no trace of gray (but only their hairdresser knows for sure!), I don’t envy them that they still retain their original hair color. Instead, I wish for them the kind of life that will make the gray, when it inevitably comes, a true sign of the wisdom and honor they have attained with their years.
If you are ever confronted by a younger person who has an “OK, Boomer” attitude toward those who are older, don’t receive that pass! Instead, recognize their immaturity for what it is, and look upon them with kindness.
And pray that they’ll live long enough, and well enough, to outgrow that silliness.