The title is one of my husband's favorite sayings. It is usually heard after someone gives him a compliment on his handy-man finesseness. Yes, I'am aware the extra ness was not necessary, but it has been some time since I have thrown an extra one in.
It might be possible to apply the phrase to the ever dwindling population of the baby boomers. They are the group of people who were born between 1946 and 1964. World War II was over and many western nations celebrated by having lots of babies. This group has been blamed for just about every problem that is happening on Planet Earth.
The list of our faults are many. We have been blamed for the rise in political power, climate change, higher education costs and being stingy, self-centered, uncaring sociopaths. Basically, we have been viewed, with a group mentality, as the worst generation ever.
I must beg to differ. We have learned lots of things. First of all, we haven't blown up the planet and we are all still here, right? There are lots of nasty diseases that no longer plague our society thanks to our generation. Those with physical handicaps are able to enter the world, beyond their front doors, due to the due diligence of the baby boomer generation.
What about the cell phone? Or, the internet? Those two 'can't live without it' things did not come from the last two generations named X and Millenials. Nor would X & M be here without us.
When the button is pushed to turn on the radio, something else our generation produced, and music from Bob Dylan, the Beach Boys, the Beegees and the Beatles fall on the listening ear, it is good to remember they were, and are, baby boomers too. The wonderful list of movies that boomer Steven Spielberg has produced have and will continue to entertain us, for years to come.
Another thing that the boomers can fly on their banner is having common sense. Common sense comes from being able to have practical judgment that did not come from any specialized training. Usually, life itself is the trainer of common sense. We know things like, the burner on the stove is still hot even though it was just turned off and that goes for the coffee fresh out of the pot. We know that it is not a good idea to eat a pod of laundry detergent. Sticking a fork in the toaster has real consequences. New knives are, for the most part, sharp. When the door does not open when it is pushed, is why the sign on the door says 'pull'.
Common sense was lacking with the young millennial I encountered in the grocery store the other day. As I reached for a nice head of cauliflower, this young lady warned me to be very careful because some of them were moldy. I responded with "Really?" and she said "Oh, yes!" and proceeded to point out the mold on the cauliflower in my hand. The spot she pointed to was so tiny, it could have been a speck of dirt. I peered at it and told her that a knife would take care of that. As I walked off, she was still going over the rest of the heads with her microscopic inspection and I thought, "Yep, dang few of us left."
No comments:
Post a Comment