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1995-01-01
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95 lines
-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
ATTACK OF THE X DEMOGRAPHIC
by Dave Bealer
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
Boomers Rule! Or at least we used to. As the largest generation
in American history, we Baby Boomers are used to being the center of
attention. Thousands of brand new schools were built for our specific
use in the 1950s and 1960s, not that we appreciated them all that
much at the time. We had bigger parties than anyone else (e.g.
Woodstock), more drugs, free love, and consequently less surviving
brain cells (on average) than any generation before or since.
Things change, however, even for the Boomers. We took our time
about it, but many of us eventually started raising families.
Frequently we skipped the "marry and settle down" prelude, not
accustomed to being bound by tradition. Still, a peaceful, clean
Earth suddenly became less an exercise in idealism we desired for
ourselves, than something OUR children needed to live long, safe,
happy lives. Never mind that as soon as they become teenagers, our
kids go off tilting at their own windmills. At least their windmills
are made from recycled materials.
Boomers have, on the whole, ended up with more traditional jobs
than they expected. Geodesic dome installation and repair did not
become the growth industry that had been envisioned. Neither did
commune planning or wind farm operation (except in the District of
Columbia, where the hot air blowing out of Congress keeps the lights
burning 24 hours/day).
A disturbing number of Boomers ended up with careers in real
estate, insurance, law enforcement, law evasion, and other
traditional trades/professions. Someone has to build and install our
hot tubs, decks, satellite dishes, big screen televisions with stereo
speakers, microwave digital toothbrushes, and other non-materialistic
accoutrements.
Yep, the Boomers turned into consumers. Not just average
consumers, but the biggest, most gluttonous and short tempered gang
of mall lizards ever to descend on a rummage sale. The kind of
spendthrift group that makes the folks who do marketing demographics
drool all over their charts and graphs. Now, after years of
incessant courting by the marketing majors (and other vile detritus)
of the world, we're being dumped like a load of week-old mackerel.
The problem is we're getting older. One would think that would be
good, at least from a marketing perspective. People in their forties
and fifties typically hold senior positions in their respective
fields, earning more than they ever did before. Although the people
who market Mercedes-Benzes and trusses target the "more mature"
demographics, the folks who peddle clothing, sunglasses, fast food,
music, sunblock, and electronics lust after that Holy Grail of
marketing, the 18-34 demographic.
As one of the youngest members of the Baby Boomers proper, I'm
already three years past that upper range of marketing cool. Does
that make me a Late Boomer? I've always been considered a late
bloomer. In any event, my status was brought home to me recently
when the "classic rock" radio station I've been listening to while
driving to and from work for ten years was suddenly transformed into
a "Generation X" station. That's right, a whole radio station
dedicated to the so-called music of a generation that refuses to give
out its real name.
I decided to give this "X" music a try for a few days. At
least it didn't include any rap music, which I can't stand. (The
realization that I was getting old struck a couple years ago when I
caught myself saying the exact same things about rap music that my
parents said about rock music). In the long run it was no good. After
so many years I needed to hear those soothingly familiar sounds from
the sixties and seventies.
Since I'm apparently the last conservative in America who doesn't
listen to talk radio, finding a new music station was mandatory.
Eventually I found an FM station that plays music from the 1970s.
It's not all rock music, but at least it's familiar -- it keeps me
happy as I drive to the mall. I can't afford a Mercedes right now,
so I'm going out to buy a truss.
{DREAM}
Copyright 1995 Dave Bealer, All Rights Reserved
====================================================================
Dave Bealer is a thirty-something mainframe systems programmer who
works with CICS, MVS and all manner of nasty acronyms at one of the
largest heavy metal shops on the East Coast. He shares a waterfront
townhome in Pasadena, MD. with two cats who annoy him endlessly as
he writes and publishes electronically. Dave can be reached via
email at: dbealer@dreamforge.com
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