They call us ”The Elderly”

[Ken N Tx]

We were born in the 40-50-60’s.
We grew up in the 50-60-70's.
We studied in the 60-70-80's.
We were dating in the 70-80-90's.
We got married and discovered the world in the 70-80-90's.
We venture into the 80-90’s.
We stabilize in the 2000’s.
We got wiser in the 2010’s.
And we are going firmly through and beyond 2020.
Turns out we've lived through EIGHT different decades...
TWO different centuries...
TWO different millennia...
We have gone from the telephone with an operator for long-distance calls to video calls to anywhere in the world.
We have gone from slides to YouTube, from vinyl records to online music, from handwritten letters to email and Whats App.
From live matches on the radio, to black and white TV, colour TV and then to 3D HD TV.
We went to the Video store and now we watch Netflix.
We got to know the first computers, punch cards, floppy disks and now we have gigabytes and megabytes on our smartphones.
We wore shorts throughout our childhood and then long trousers, Oxfords, flares, shell suits & blue jeans.
We dodged infantile paralysis, meningitis, polio, tuberculosis, swine flu and now COVID-19.
We rode skates, tricycles, bicycles, mopeds, petrol or diesel cars and now we drive hybrids or electric.
Yes, we've been through a lot but what a great life we've had!
They could describe us as “exennials”; people who were born in that world of the fifties, who had an analog childhood and a digital adulthood.
We've kind of “Seen-It-All”!
Our generation has literally lived through and witnessed more than any other in every dimension of life.
It is our generation that has literally adapted to “CHANGE”.
A big round of applause to all the members of a very special generation, which will be UNIQUE.
-Author unknown

 

[Supernatural]

So true... We've lived in the strangest of times where everything changed regularly. The discoveries, some were good, some were bizarre and some were very pleasant.

In general, it's the wrong moniker as every new day, everyone is older than yesterday. Maybe they should change it to the Wise ones... Cause regardless, we know more now, the young ones will learn it later on. Hit themselves on the forehead and say: Oh man, they were right...

 

[Mike]

Great post Ken, you could add at the bottom, that our generation
started all of these things, even if they were passed to youngsters
to complete the building of them.

Mike.

 

[oldaunt]

Yet the Z generation still thinks they are sooo smart and know everything.....

 

[dilettante]

It is funny to see young people watch the "Back To The Future" movies for the first time and miss most of the references. Often they don't even recognize Huey Lewis in the first movie.

 

[hollydolly]

We were born in the 40-50-60’s.
We grew up in the 50-60-70's.
We studied in the 60-70-80's.
We were dating in the 70-80-90's.
We got married and discovered the world in the 70-80-90's.
We venture into the 80-90’s.
We stabilize in the 2000’s.
We got wiser in the 2010’s.
And we are going firmly through and beyond 2020.
Turns out we've lived through EIGHT different decades...
TWO different centuries...
TWO different millennia...
We have gone from the telephone with an operator for long-distance calls to video calls to anywhere in the world.
We have gone from slides to YouTube, from vinyl records to online music, from handwritten letters to email and Whats App.
From live matches on the radio, to black and white TV, colour TV and then to 3D HD TV.
We went to the Video store and now we watch Netflix.
We got to know the first computers, punch cards, floppy disks and now we have gigabytes and megabytes on our smartphones.
We wore shorts throughout our childhood and then long trousers, Oxfords, flares, shell suits & blue jeans.
We dodged infantile paralysis, meningitis, polio, tuberculosis, swine flu and now COVID-19.
We rode skates, tricycles, bicycles, mopeds, petrol or diesel cars and now we drive hybrids or electric.
Yes, we've been through a lot but what a great life we've had!
They could describe us as “exennials”; people who were born in that world of the fifties, who had an analog childhood and a digital adulthood.
We've kind of “Seen-It-All”!
Our generation has literally lived through and witnessed more than any other in every dimension of life.
It is our generation that has literally adapted to “CHANGE”.
A big round of applause to all the members of a very special generation, which will be UNIQUE.
-Author unknown

Fabulous....I love this... we're the most interesting people on Earth...

 

[Quackers]

And now we are considered by many youngsters to be a pain in the arse and a drain on society. Bah.

 

[dilettante]

 

[Ruthanne]

Thanks Ken!

 

[MarciKS]

Awesome post Ken. I'm not as old as everyone else but, I've definitely found a lot of things interesting in 57 years on this planet. Not bad for startin out as a bunch of thumb suckers. LOL!

It's fun to try new things or see them improve on certain things over time. But I still miss the old days with no cell phones and playin outside and drinkin from the hose. When people talked to each other and were neighbors.

 

[Buckeye]

My grandmothers and grandfathers were all alive when the Wright Brothers took the first manned airplane flight. Both grandmothers lived to see us land on the moon. (Neither grandfather made it that long..) Both grandfathers served in France in WW1, they all survived the Yellow fever epidemic of 1917, and the great depression, and WW2.

I'd say that's quite a span of history.

 

[papa tiger]

So, lets push arrogance aside and realize it's a whole new Ball Blame Game of Blame, Blame, Blame. Criticize, Criticize, Criticize.
So doing the best simply isn't good enough. More Blame, Criticize and Bla, Bla, Blah! Sure, the world definitely isn't better!
So, kindness and mercy will remain stuffed in the back of the closet well covered with high heeled shoes and Stuff.

 

[dilettante]

America's First Airplane Flight :: The Southwest Michigan Directory

In 1896 Augustus Moore Herring applied for what was possibly the earliest patent of its type in the country, a United States Patent for a man-supporting, heavier-than-air, motorized, controllable, "flying machine".

Financed by Matthias Arnot of Elmira, New York, Herring developed his flying machine while living in St. Joseph, Michigan.

On October 11, 1899, Herring successfully flew his craft along the sandy shores of Lake Michigan at Silver Beach in St. Joseph, Michigan. According to Herring, this historic flight carried him approximately 50 feet.

Eleven days later, October 22, he managed an "eight to ten seconds", 73-foot flight, as was witnessed by a newspaper reporter...

Herring's craft may have had issues to work through, however, it did show that such flight was "solvable" in Herring's words. Unfortunately a fire and financial problems prevented Herring from further experimentation.

Many aviation enthusiasts along with a growing number of historians consider Augustus Herring as the world's true "First in Flight". Consider this: today's hang glider pilots are still flying in the same manner as Herring, shifting their weight to control their craft. The Wright Brothers, on the other hand, operated their "Flyer" with wing-warping mechanisms that were quite awkward and fell out of favor shortly after their first flight.

 

[horseless carriage]

They call us the elderly because "old farts" comes across as derogatory.

 

[dilettante]

Even that feels nicer than "facility fodder."

 

[MarciKS]

wait! we're not old farts? omg! i was so enjoying this!

 

[Debrah N.]

Fabulous....I love this... we're the most interesting people on Earth...

I think our generations musicians also created the most varied and interesting music. Music today all seems to sound the same as the last popular artist. We had Led Zeppelin, Chris Issac, Annie Lennox, Sinead O'Conner, The Righteous Brothers, Bee Gees, Kiss, Hall & Oates, Elvis Presley................what a variety!

 

[Manatee]

But I was born in 1934 and a lot of that stuff never applied to me.

 

[Debrah N.]

But I was born in 1934 and a lot of that stuff never applied to me.

Who stood out for you then? Would it be contemporaries for example of Patsy Cline? I'm not too familiar with others of her era but she came to mind and she was pretty phenomenal. But actually you might have been too young for her. How about Dean Martin or 'ole Blue Eyes? Ray Charles? And the Righteous Brothers would have begun their musical careers when you were in your 30's I think.

You're still part of the same era of 'new' music that precluded today's endlessly, similar artists. (or maybe I'm just being an old snob when it comes to my opinion on todays music. That's a possibility too)

 

[fuzzybuddy]

We're in our 50s, 60s ,70s, 80s, etc., what do you think people are going to call us, "teenagers"? We're geezers. And they're younger. But we weren't born geezers, we were just as young as they are now. And very shortly, those young will be the geezers. It's called life.

 

[dilettante]

Geezers? I don't wear my trousers that high yet.

 

[chic]

My grandmothers and grandfathers were all alive when the Wright Brothers took the first manned airplane flight. Both grandmothers lived to see us land on the moon. (Neither grandfather made it that long..) Both grandfathers served in France in WW1, they all survived the Yellow fever epidemic of 1917, and the great depression, and WW2.

I'd say that's quite a span of history.

Mine too. I'd say that generation had it the toughest.

 

[DebraMae]

I have a hard time realizing I am "the elderly" and when reminded of it a smile crosses my face. My body is giving out a bit but my mind still thinks I am 25. I am happy to have made it here and not quite ready to leave.

 

[dilettante]

Maybe we can petition Weird Al to spoof "We Are The Warriors" as "We Are The Elderly" or has somebody done that already?

 

[timoc]

They call us ”The Elderly”​

Well, I came into the world in the 30s, but I'm still only a young boy..... elderly indeed, HA.