Wednesday, May 6, 2009

Boomer Angst


The boomers. Largest generation. I missed being a boomer by a year. I was born in Feb. '45 making me a war baby. Boomer status starts with a birthdate of Jan. 1st, 1946. I'm not officially a boomer but grew up in their shadow. Classrooms in my Catholic elementary school had combined "grades" like 1st & 2nd, 3rd & 4th. By the time I was in 2nd grade a very large group of kids was entering behind me. I remember having 54 kids in my classroom when I was in 4th grade.

Anyway, boomers grew up with everything being about them. Now that generation is of retirement age and not all of them want to go. There is a little tension with employers not wanting to be accused of age descrimination. The stock market slide hasn't helped people close to retirement make the leap. I have friends agonizing over making a good decision to leave vs. spend another day at work.

Maybe Brett Favre's return to football will give some solace. Leave and see how it goes. Leave and come back if you don't like it. He came back to play for another team last year. They just released him and now the Vikings have been talking to him. With the ongoing rivalry between these bordering states fans, that would be a bitter outcome for cheesehead fans. Today's sports news has Farve talking to Green Bay. That might go down better than having the gold and green watch him back up the Vikings team. He could make a boomerang move. They probably retired his jersey, but I'm sure they could find another for him to wear.
--Sign of the times. The hospital where I worked the last 22 years of my career is offering an early retirement package to 60 yr. old nurses. They have never done that before.

No comments: