The Popcorn Stand: Fine line between Baby Boomer and Baby Buster

I don’t know why this bothers me so much, but apparently I’m no longer a Baby Buster.

I was always under the impression the cutoff birth dates for those in the Baby Boom generation was from 1946 to 1964. Since I was born in 1965, I was a Baby Buster, which meant I slipped under the radar for the most part. You never really hear much commentary on Baby Busters if any commentary at all.

Baby Boomers on the other hand while I was coming of age, fairly or unfairly, received a lot of grief. At least until Generation X came along and then the Millennials after that.

Millennials are taking as much if not more grief than Baby Boomers. I have to admit I also use Millennial as a put down. But let me be clear. I don’t think of most young people as Millennials. There are just a few younger whipper snappers I come across who annoy me so much I eventually refer to them as Millennials.

On the other hand, I can remember when Baby Boomers received the rap of selling out their beliefs in the 1960s to become Yuppies in the 1980s. (You Millennials can look up the term Yuppies).

The 1970s when most Baby Boomers were attending high school, college or starting out in life were referred to as the Me Decade. That wasn’t a compliment.

But now apparently, I’m a Baby Boomer. I’m a materialistic person who sold out his beliefs. I’m hearing some revisions now to include those who were born between 1945 and 1965 in the Baby Boom generation.

I would say with each post-World War II generation it’s pretty much the same. We initially look at each generation generally with disdain, but as time has gone by when it comes to Baby Boomers, we look at everything they’ve contributed to humankind, and maybe they don’t deserve such a bad rap after all.

So maybe it’s not that bad to be a Baby Boomer after all.

— Charles Whisnand