Flower Children vs Vets
Not every Baby Boomer is alike. Especially in America. The Viet Nam War had a tremendous impact on my generation, and the differences between us in the 60s are still making themselves felt today.
Although, truth to tell, we usually try our best to get along now and co-exist with some degree of empathy. We try to focus on our mutual medical and family and financial problems, rather than on how we feel the other may have wasted his life.
I would just like to suggest that former Flower Children are more trusting.
It would be stupid to judge an entire generation by only a few individuals, but I think it’s reasonable to expect that people traumatized by military action will be more inclined to look judgmentally on anybody asking them for a favor. I think they might be more apt to put restrictions on any generosity they might extend.
I think people who were taken advantage of before will be suspicious that someone is trying to take advantage of them now.
On the other hand, I think Flower Children are more likely to just give a gift without any expectation of payback, just because they can afford to do so, and they know from experience that extending a loan is just not worth the hassle. They also probably remember when some kind soul in their past did the same thing for them.
I may be guilty, here, of stereotyping. If any of my readers takes exception to this general observation, I will humbly accept correction and apologize in your particular case.
Like I said before — focusing on our mutual problems of aging, rather than on the basic differences in how we chose to view life.
