Intro to Generation Jones

We’re not Baby Boomers!

Most people are familiar with the terms Baby Boomers, Gen X, Gen Y, etc. My High School history teacher introduced the concept of generational cohorts to our senior class in 1978. Mr. Seip declared we were Boomers since we were born in 1959 or 1960, within the Boomer range 1946 and 1965. That didn’t ring true to me, and I questioned it in my mind since my experiences didn’t resemble the older kids in my neighborhood.

Years later as a young adult, I honed a one-minute monologue on why I wasn’t a Baby Boomer.

“The guys 8 to 15 years older than me drove Mustangs and Camaros in High School. My generation avoided American-made Gremlins, Pintos, and Vegas and drove Honda Civics or VW Bugs instead. They had JFK’s ‘Ask not what your country can do for you…’ We had Nixon’s, ‘I am not a crook.’ They marched on Washington, occupied college administration buildings, and burned their draft cards.

They wanted to change the world. We believed Reagan in his 1981 inaugural address, ‘Government is not the solution to our problem, government is the problem.’ Therefore, we just wanted to change the channel. They graduated with jobs in manufacturing plants that afforded a three-bedroom detached “American Dream” with a 6% mortgage. We would graduate to lower-paying service jobs that provided no chance of owning any type of home since mortgage rates would climb above 15%.”