“But something is happening here and you don’t know what it is. Do you, Mr. Jones?”
If there’s one thing that is starting to seem very strange to me, it’s the idea of generations.
Was it the statement that those born between 1946 and 1964 were Baby Boomers? Or that those who grew up during the Great Depression and World War II were the Greatest Generation?
Does that mean babies born between V-E Day and V-J Day in 1945 — yes, there were some — are considered part of the same cohort as those born just after the stock market crashed in 1929? Even though a 16-year-old mother could have given birth to the younger one?
“My mom and I are both part of the Greatest Generation.”
“Uh, not so much.”
Or to look at it from a different perspective, I have seen the two generations following the Baby Boomers described in two different ways. One has Generation X running from 1965-79, the other says it’s from 1965-80. Since Gen X has been described by many as a cynical, burned out generation, and Gen Y, also known as Millennials, as an optimistic, upbeat generation, where does that leave those born in 1980?
“Clowns to the left of me! Jokers to the right! Here I am stuck in the middle with you.”
Maybe that’s a little too harsh. I know exactly one person who was born in 1980, and she is one of the very best people I know. She would definitely be on the Gen Y side of the divide.
In a way, the entire generation thing is silly. Ever hear of the Silent Generation? They were the men in gray flannel suits, the women who stayed home and kept house. I suppose the best example I could give would be the show “Mad Men,” the generation that came of age in the ’50s. The problem is, nearly all of them were born as part of the Greatest Generation.
Then there are the Baby Boomers, who raise the question of whether they really should be two generations instead of one. I was born in 1949, and three of my four siblings were born after 1955.
One thing not shown in the above chart is that generations are seen to have defining events, things that influence the generation as a whole. For 1929-45, there is no question that for much of the generation that event was Pearl Harbor.
For 1946-54, it would be President Kennedy’s assassination, and for 1955-64 it would be Watergate. But the youngest among them lived through JFK, and the older weren’t exactly elderly during Watergate.
The event that really divides older and younger Boomers is the Vietnam War. Everyone born by 1954 lived under the shadow of Vietnam. None of those born in 1955 or later was doing to be drafted and sent to Asia.
Pretty different.
In case you’re wondering, the term Generation Jones came from, it’s Bob Dylan’s “Ballad of a Thin Man.”
Check it out on YouTube.