Generations of Pipe Smokers on Here
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I'm a late boomer, and turned 60, a week or so ago. I feel fortunate, growing up in the 60's and 70's. Life was simpler it seemed, and more down to earth. I still try to keep my life simple and enjoy the true pleasures of friendship, good conversation, and reading. I came to pipes late but find it helps in this regard.
Oh labels, what fun. I was born in 1986, which makes me I guess an early millennial according to the charts or an "Xennial." I too admittedly sometimes cringe like others at having that label slapped on me when I see people born around the turn of the century and how different their life experience often has been, however I'm sure a boomer born in 46 would feel the same about one born in 64 and so on and so forth and labeling all these "generations" really leads to a lot of gross generalizations on our part. The bottom line for me is that everyone is an individual, and chronological age matters very little to me when it comes to the people I associate with in any capacity. Although it is of course still somewhat interesting to view the demographics. Statistics are always inherently intriguing for some reason.
More according to the mythology, The Greatest Generation experienced both part of the Great Depression and World War II. My slightly older sister, born in 1943, I think of as a war baby. She hauled around with my mom and dad while he was a Navy officer in training and on duty until he left for the Pacific as a minesweeper officer and later skipper. I'm a charter member of the Boomers, 1946, but part of that surprisingly small minority that were in the military during Vietnam; one way or another, a healthy majority of males were not in the military during "the era." The vets experience was very different from the Boomer experience in general. I saw the movie "Woodstock" in the mess hall of a minesweeper at Subic Bay (I think it was). During liberty hours I did take in a Leon Russell concert, and later a Moody Blues concert, back to the ship in time for a watch.
I was born in 1957 so a full baby boomer. I believe were are the most successful financially speaking of all the generations. It wasn't easy back then. My first real job I was a mfg rep in the jewelry industry with N.E being my territory. I rolled with tons of street maps, all kind of change for the phones booths I had to use since no cells. It was a different world. But I did make money in that business and then made even more in the car business. If you could sell you could make good money. working 60-70 hours a week was the norm but it paid off nicely. Jobs were easy to find that paid very well.
THE 70 S were all kinds of fun.
THE 70 S were all kinds of fun.
I remember Jimmy Carter as President and went to see the original Star Wars when it was first in theaters.
At this point I’ve got six decades under my belt (well there is some overhang).
As far as nostalgia goes I have come to the conclusion that whatever moment in the space-time continuum we are in it is a sure bet that, “ these are the good old days”.
As Roy Batty said,
“...all those moments will be lost in time, like tears in rain.”
Rutger Hauer in the 1982 Ridley Scott film Blade Runner.
As far as nostalgia goes I have come to the conclusion that whatever moment in the space-time continuum we are in it is a sure bet that, “ these are the good old days”.
As Roy Batty said,
“...all those moments will be lost in time, like tears in rain.”
Rutger Hauer in the 1982 Ridley Scott film Blade Runner.
Great posts. I am from the bicentennial year. It's especially nice to see how far we have come in such a short time. Pipes are a bridge to the past and by all the hording I see a connection in the future!
I am not super thrilled of all the technology and advancement because those slower times were pretty good.
Except for the dial up....that really sucked!
I am not super thrilled of all the technology and advancement because those slower times were pretty good.
Except for the dial up....that really sucked!
"Z" is quite apropos, because it may very well be the final fully human generation.
Genetically engineered, lab-grown, hybrid, and cyborg "humans" are where we're currently headed.
So yes, these are definitely the good ol' days.
I'm among the first group of Boomers, born 9 months after the end of WWII. Like Cortez, I remember when The Iceman cometh. He would chip a small sliver of ice from one of the broken blocks, on those hot summer days, a kind of pure popsicle, for the kids who would run up to the wagon to rub the horse's nose. (The Iceman was among the last of the horse-drawn peddlers in the late 40s and early 50s.)
I told that to my grandson (16) and he looked at me as if I were nuts. I get that a lot.
I told that to my grandson (16) and he looked at me as if I were nuts. I get that a lot.
I have thought a lot about that issue - whether nostalgia is inevitable, and whether remembering "the good old days" is just a crock of you-know-what. I've come to believe that there have been certain turning points in human history where something important has been lost, and that people are often completely justified in a logical sense in missing older times.
For example, when the industrial revolution eventually overshadowed agrarianism and craftsman-based methods of production, a fruit-of-the-land lifestyle was lost to mechanization and generic one-size-fits-all standardized production. A very nature-based way of living was replaced by not-so-human industrialization. Of course the agrarian life was hard, demanding, and dangerous, and during the industrial period plenty of objectively good advancements were made in the areas of medicine, the cost of goods, and easing human burdens through technology in general. However, even though there were obvious improvements, something valuable was lost. The Southern Agrarian writers described this loss better than I ever could, so I'll defer to them on further descriptions of the matter, though I think most of them ultimately came to the conclusion that the change was a one-way deal and there is no going back. Much was improved, but something important was lost.
We've also seen a comparable arrangement of both improvement as well as loss with the advent of the internet, smartphones, and 24/7 connectedness. For example, there used to be no such thing as "after work emails." In certain corporate cultures, employees now are feeling like they are eternally on the clock due to the expectations that come with the current systems. I know first-hand that this same 24/7 connectedness issue applies in small business where some clients expect quick responses, including on weekends and after hours. Other people let their "connectedness" online interfere with their real-life relationships by focusing on their online experiences rather than sharing a moment in real time. There is also the problem of social media causing some users to have distorted expectations of what day-to-day life can be like, or of how happy and adventurous people are in general, based on people tending to only post the highlights of their lives on social media and keeping the mundane private.
Anyhow, before I ramble on too long about it, I just wanted to make the point that the 24/7 connectedness provided by technology has certainly changed certain aspects of life dramatically, both good and bad, to the extent that those of us who might say that we "miss the good old days" are completely justified and logical in our sentiments.
Thanks! I'm glad you like the concept.
On our "90's Nights" we put our phones in our bedroom and put our laptops in their cases. We then do something else to occupy our time, which usually consists of one or more of several options:
- Picking a movie or a TV series to watch together
- Playing a board game (not games like Monopoly, but more involved and developed games, which are much more fun and engrossing... I am a little into boardgaming as another hobby, but that's neither here nor there)
- Reading books together (not the same books, but just spending time together each reading our own book and then usually talking about the books after a period of reading)
- Or just hanging out and talking, listening to music, and the like
Basically, it can be pretty easy to put down the technology when there is something else that can be just as engrossing as the internet which will keep your attention throughout an evening
There are now people of legal adult age who were born in the 21st century and have never known life without the internet or cell phones.
This, to me, is something a little unsettling to ponder.
No, your going to play the game, and you're going to like it. Otherwise, your going to be grouped with the stupid "Millennials"
Like me....
And you don't want that!
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