Ok Millenials

Okay, I watched the short video clip of Ms. Chlöe Swabrick, a 25-year-old lawmaker in New Zealand. (They allow people that young to serve in government?)

I heard her say, quite clearly, "Okay, Boomer."

I confess, I thought she was talking to a dog. This was some sort of viral video after all, so it must have a dog or cat in it. But, in watching the clip again, I could see no dog beside her. There apparently wasn’t a dog across the room from her.

And if she was speaking to a dog, what exactly was she saying? "Okay, Boomer, sit." Or, "Okay Boomer, go fetch." Or, "Okay Boomer, you can go play now."

Then I learned that Ms. Swabrick was addressing, not a dog, but an entire generation of people. In fact, MY generation of people!

She said to one man, and to all of us via social media, "Ok, Boomer."

I admit, I laughed out loud. Like seriously, LOL! JJJ

What a polite and gentle way to say to people who are your parents' age: Shut the f up, you old geezer!

(I hear, in the background, all the men of Boomer age crying out, "We're not geezers!" Dudes, look in your mirror -- you became your parents over the past 50 years and you are now geezers.)

Turns out this "Ok Boomer" is a code among the Millenial generation.

My children are Gen Xers, whether they like it or not, just like I'm a Boomer whether I like it or not. We Boomers raised these people who are now young adults.

I have a clear memory of my totally cute 3-year-old daughter putting her hand on her hip, rolling her eyes, and sneering at me, "Duh!" (Where did she learn such nasty language?!?! Not from me!)

Her action went to my brain stem, and not the one that leaps in to care for people, or comfort them with pots of coffee. It went straight to the maternal, controlling one. I said something brilliant like,  "Don't you talk to me like that, young lady!" To which she responded with a huff and stomped away.

"Duh" had become a snarky response to know-it-alls. Such a simple word – nonexistent before TV and Homer Simpson – that carried complicated, terrible connotations.

Here was my perfect little girl using it, if not appropriately, perfectly. It got a great reaction out of her mother.

Now that little girl is grown up, along with all her contemporaries. They are their own generation now with their own title, GenXers. The Millenials are so called because they were born and grew up as their society crossed from one century to another – a very arbitrary birthing on their part.

And now,  apparently, they are old enough to serve in government, to have the care and feeding of people's grandchildren, to have – gasp!—minds of their own.

We Boomers were not going to raise children as we had been raised: we were going to tell them they were loved, hug them frequently, encourage them to become whatever they wanted instead whatever their parents had decided. We encouraged kindness toward all and tried our darnedest to eliminate racist language from our daily lives.

And look what happened! They care about each other, about others who are different from them, even the Earth.

My husband and I have met many, many young people through our Airbnb, and they are universally pleasant, kind, and curious. They are delightful in conversation, asking about our lives and sharing about their own interests.

I love these Millenials. I have to love someone who, out of frustration with an overbearing elder male, said something so polite and conciliatory as, "Ok." She didn't even say, "Duh!", or even worse, roll her eyes!

I'd say that young lady's parents -- probably from that Boomer generation -- did a great job of raising her.

Go young people, you fine Millenials! You rock! You are okay!

Kitten Millenial and Tomcat Boomer

This summer I brought home a kitten, six-weeks old, and cute as a button. (How did buttons get the reputation of being cute, anyway?)

Her name is Lacey. [I am unable to load a photo of Lacey, doubtless because of my birth date. Grr.]

Lacey arrived in a house with three other cats. Okay, we’re cat people. But we have a large house! 

Anyway, the first cat Lacey noticed was our yellow tabby tomcat, 6-year-old Jones. [Also, no photo of Jones.]

The second she saw him, Lacey's eyes got big and she jumped right on top of him. Jones yelled and hissed and whacked at her.

The next second, Lacey jumped on Jones again.

Finally, Jones ran out the cat door to the outdoors to nap in peace. Before exiting, I must note, he had some very unpleasant things to say to the humans who brought that monstrosity into the house. What were we thinking? Why were we destroying his peace and quiet? What had happened to our mental abilities – already limited because we are mere humans – but still?

Lacey is a wonderful kitten: gentle, curious but cautious, and follows her humans all around the house. However, truthfully, she only has eyes for Jones. If he appears in her vision, she abandons all pretense of loving her humans, and runs up to him, jumps on him, chases his tail.

No matter how awfully Jones treats Lacey in return, she still loves him dearly.

Actually Jones is showing amazing tolerance for this pest. He growls at her and hisses, and probably calls her mother cat names with his body language, but he has never attacked her. He has never scratched her. He has never jumped on her in return.

Jones knows instinctively that a kitten must be tolerated because she is young. She doesn’t know any better than to behave badly toward him: jumping at him from corners, ignoring his bad language toward her through hissing, forever watching his tail.

That’s how it is with youngsters – feline or human: they behave badly, unprofessionally, crudely because they don’t know any better yet. They resent being corrected, but they want to be appreciated anyway.

This is a perfect example of the problems between old people and young people, between generations. The Laceys of the world – now referred to as Millenials -- behave badly,  and the Joneses of  the world – currently the Baby Boomers -- also behave badly. It's a tough mix, and timeless. 

I'll share my reaction to "Okay, Boomer" in the next installment of this blog. What was yours?