Okay, Boomer, Thank You.
Are Baby Boomers getting a bad rap?
When a young person says, “Okay, Boomer,” it is not a compliment.
They are saying that you don’t get it so you should just keep your mouth shut. They are saying you caused a lot of the current problems facing the world so now it’s time to sit down.
But this attitude is dismissive and insulting.
We Gen Xers sometimes get thrown into the mix and are confused with Baby Boomers. We, too, feel the wrath of the youth so we can empathize with the Boomers when the insults are thrown.
Although I do agree that it is time to let go of some of this country’s attitudes about social issues and the environment, I think the young people of today would be shocked by what the Baby Boomers accomplished and the positive things they created.
The civil rights movement, women marching for equal rights, and the war protestors of the 60s and 70s were largely supported by Boomers fighting to make the world a better place.
The hippies promoting free love, good feelings and peace were mostly Boomers.
The Rolling Stones, the Beatles, Bob Dylan and Eric Clapton were all pre-Boomers who rose to popularity by being embraced by the Boomers.
Woodstock, a successful disaster, was filled with Boomers who managed to occupy a small space in adverse conditions without much food or water with no rioting or any real major problems.
Sally Ride, the first woman in space, was a Baby Boomer.
On the younger side of the generation, there are Bill Gates, Barack Obama and Steven Spielberg.
The Boomers fought and died in Vietnam. Many came back, went to college and worked their fingers to the bone so their families and children would have a better life.
They were the parents of my fellow Gen Xers. They knew how to give us the proper amount of freedom so we could become successful and independent but enough security and love so that we felt safe.
Yes, there are a lot of issues that need addressing, but cleaning up another generation’s problems and mistakes is as timeless as inheriting the wealth and hard work of that same generation.
So, the next time you hear or are tempted to throw out an “Okay, Boomer” as an insult, know that much of this world that we enjoy today was built by those same Boomers.
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