Boomer Randomness

Ok, I admit right up front that this a whiney post. I’m usually a positive, optimistic person, so I might figure out a way to feel better by the end of this. My occasional depression seems to be visiting me this June; uninvited, of course. This visitor is partly dressed in MS and partly in aging. I usually try to focus on things I CAN do rather than things I can’t, but then I grab my cane as I get up from a fatigue-fighting midday nap and limp across the room to get some water. I remember when I was a fast walker, all of three or four years ago. I remember I had a personal trainer who helped me build strength, stamina, a flat stomach and plenty of confidence, four characteristics I lack at the moment. I try to remind myself, in my usual “half full not half empty” way, that MS slows me down but doesn’t stop me; then I sit down again, too tired to do anything. As all of this negativity and whining washes over me, I start thinking about retirement. I should be ecstatic that I am o...

Morgan Freeman is one of my favorite actors. Wide range, emotional variety, voice of God. Shawshank Redemption, Driving Miss Daisy. And he is now on the list of famous male to be accused of sexually inappropriate behavior. As of this writing, the behavior in question is mostly verbal, sprinkled with a stray back rub or neck touch. No sex. Yet. Is there a distinction in seriousness between talking and non-genital touching and actual unwanted sex?  Does a leering 80-year-old ‘creepy uncle’ type of man get a pass from the Me Too movement?  I think those are difficult questions. Boomers will remember a time when leering, cat calls and other verbal behaviors that are now considered derogatory were “acceptable”. They were never a good thing but it happened a lot and women didn’t push back all that much.  Women’s rights movements slowly changed attitudes but the change was glacial and apparently incomplete. There has never been justification for women to be treated...

For better or worse, boomers are the generation that made divorce acceptable. I’ve been through a couple of them myself, so you can understand that I often have a cynical attitude about weddings. Yet here I was, up since 6:30 that morning, watching the Royal Wedding on television. And actually enjoying it. The incredible combination of tradition and modernity, monarchy and celebrity, England and America.  The African-American Episcopal Bishop’s sermon about love, a choir singing “Stand By Me”, the flawless performance by a 19-year-old cellist, the look on Meghan’s Mother’s face, the look in the eyes of the bride and groom, the tens of thousands of spectators along the ceremonial route. Elton John, George Clooney and Oprah Winfrey in the church. Clear blue skies, a rarity in England. And hour and a half of the Today Show with no commercials. Wedding vows spoken with British and American accents. Watching something like this can restore belief in marriage, love and internat...

Whether it’s true or not, boomers like me think we still rule the world. Here is a compilation of devices and strategies that can help us fend off the millennials who are trying to take over, because they will have no idea what these are or how to use them. Our secret code (cursive writing) Our special communication device that they don’t know how to use Our instant photo device Our own special language (complete, grammatically correct sentences) Using cash to buy things (and we can count change without using the register or a calculator) An analog clock to tell each other the time of our secret missions (when the big hand is on 4 and the little hand is on 8) And they’ll never figure out how to drive our cars because of this special anti-theft device  Wait your turn, millennials, we ain’t dead yet. When it IS your turn, learn from us. Emulate our successes and try to not make our mistakes. And learn how to drive a stick shift car i...