Just this weekend I was insulted in such a vile and terrible way that I had to share it with someone. Michael Adams of Environics was the name caller. He called me, and indeed everyone born before 1970 and after World War II, a baby boomer. This was on a TV Ontario show, Big Ideas, which airs varying lectures.
Now for those of you born closer to World War II, you’re probably used to the tag and don’t mind it. But to me, someone born in 1967, it is rubbing salt into an already infected wound.
For one thing, my age group has been called the opposite name of the baby boom – the baby bust. It is up in the air where exactly the baby bust started. Some say as early as 1960 or as late as 1966. It’s supposed to go on till about 1982 or so. That’s about when the abundant baby boomers had their own kids to end the bust. So almost by definition, I am not a baby boomer.
I guess Michael Adams never saw the television show Family Ties in the eighties. It was a comedy where the parents were supposed to be successful baby boomers with the irony of having Micheal J. Fox as a son. Fox’s character wore a suit, despite being in high school, and had a generally conservative view of things. The point was generation X (or the baby busters) were different than the baby boomers.
With constant coverage of the “lead” baby boomers (those born in 1945 or 1946) the media killed any liking I could possibly have for these people.
It was worse, because when my age group wanted to enter the workforce, there were many fewer jobs available, because the bloated horde that is the baby boomers had filled the job market almost to bursting.
And now, to call me a baby boomer? Vile Michael Adams, vile. Why don’t you use your little stats company to set a firm and agreed upon start to the generations instead of expanding the definition of baby boomer.
You can’t, as you’ve done, change course for everyone, midstream. Just because you wanted a generation to be about 25 years long, because that’s closer to where women start having babies, you can’t. A generation can be as short as 15 years or as long as ?(the technology keeps improving for women who want late babies).
The media started this years ago, so I internalized the name gen X. I know people born even before 1960 who were convinced they weren’t baby boomers -why did all the coverage feature just the lead baby boomers? In fact I’ve joked with some of these older people about boomers. To their core of humour they don’t believe they are boomers. You’re not going to suck in that many people to be your baby boomers, Michael Adams.
And looking you up online, Mr. Adams, I see you were born in 1946. You seem to relish your position as being a “lead” baby boomer. And like any petty leader you are trying to extend your kingdom to my generation. You are not my leader, go away and quit insulting me.
