Archives for June 2026

There. I said it. Boomer energy. Until just recently, I was totally unaware that there was such a thing. But there is and if I’m the first one to relate this to you, it’s time to get on board.

Apparently, boomer energy is rubbing other Gens the wrong way. In my book, that’s okay because some GenX and Millennials are driving us around the bend. But boomer energy goes beyond disputed techniques for how to load a dishwasher.

Let’s start with the unsolicited phone call. The WHAT you say?? Yes, boomers were comfortable with landlines and then cell phones came along. So? Apparently, just picking up the cell phone to call a Millennial or a GenZ is a faux pas. What? Out of the blue you’re calling to see what’s up and how’s the family? That’s what texting is for you idiot!

If you think that unnerves younger Gens, try showing up in person without advance notice. The unannounced drop-bye might as well be a bomb dropped on unsuspecting civilians. It’s another case where an advance text is appropriate. That will give them time to clear out and go to the beach or mountains before you show.

Next on the list of bad energy generation are comments about personal appearance. You might think it’s okay to note someone’s weight loss or new hair style. DON’T. Younger gens guard aspects of self and body image in a way that is foreign to the boomer desire to show interest and caring in a direct manner. You’ve been warned.

Right on the heels of personal appearance comments comes unsolicited advice. I can give you some unsolicited advice right now because I’m assuming we’re speaking boomer to boomer. It’s best that you just restrain yourself from offering any advice to a younger Gen unless you’ve been asked for an opinion. Even then, there’s a high risk of blowback that your advice will go unappreciated – or worse.

If all this bad energy on our part is disheartening to you, know this. Someday soon, the Gens that find our behavior irritating, will be irritating some generation that does not even have a name yet, and that is the kind of Karma we can all appreciate.

Jay Harrison is a writer and creative consultant for DesignConcept. His most recent mystery novel, Rio Puerco Demise is available on Amazon. His first mystery novel, Head Above Water, is also available on Amazon. But that’s not all. You can also purchase the Best of BoomSpeak on Amazon.

It’s enough to give a Boomer whiplash, trying to follow the research into what’s good for us. Our morning coffee has positive effects, concludes one study; other studies suggest a sip of java is the kiss of death. The same for red wine, protein, or our favorite form of exercise. When it comes to our health, we’re always doing it wrong. The same goes for our financial health.

We’ve all been suffering lately from the “K-shaped economy,” an acknowledgment, at least, that neither financial hardships nor benefits are in any way spread equally across our society. But I’ve been reading that our economy is also “G-shaped,” that there’s a Generational framework at work here, Baby Boomers propping up the economy not only by outspending other age groups, but also by specifically assisting younger people (i.e., their kids and grandkids). And the tone of some commentators is not approving.

The discovery of this “G-shaped” economy has me shaking my head, as if it were somehow new—and inappropriate—for Grandma and/or Grandpa to pick up the tab at an upscale restaurant, foot the bill for a family vacation, or help with a down payment on a house or a car. The horror! The horror!

As with coffee or exercise, the critics are all over the place. On Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays, the financial columns discuss the “Great Wealth Transfer” soon to come as Boomers like me bequeath their savings, stock portfolios, and paid-off homes to their kids and grandkids. Yet on Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Saturdays I read dire accounts, in those same columns, of my generation’s dangerously forking over too much before the end. On Sundays the columnists carp that retirees control an unfair portion of the nation’s wealth. Forget having it both ways; some economic gurus want their arguments every which way, all at once.

Then there’s the pundit who brings the good news (We’re living years longer: Yay!) only to deliver the bad (Our nest eggs won’t last out those years: Yikes!). But hold the (rotary) phone, stop the (inky) presses—now experts declare that spending the nest egg earlier is wiser than waiting to spend it later.

Whatever the economic forecast, let’s just admit the future has a shape of its own. And it’s not a letter. It’s a question mark.

Poet and essayist James Scruton lives economically in Brookville, Ohio.

My family moved from Massachusetts to Florida in 1978. I was 12 years old. In the cool evenings we heard the most beautiful piano music coming in through the windows. A woman was playing the piano in the house behind ours.

Once we settled in, I started babysitting for families on my street. I met the lady who played the piano. She needed a babysitter for her 7-year-old daughter, and I wanted piano lessons. So, we traded piano lessons for babysitting services.

There was a problem. I didn’t have a piano.

Once again, I used my bartering skills. I attended a little church down the road. I asked if I could sweep the hallway in return for piano practice time in the sanctuary. Most days I would practice after school.

After a year of lessons, the lady in the house behind us moved away.

My next piano teacher was Mrs. Tremper. She was nice and patient. I enjoyed three years of her teaching and guidance.

I stopped taking piano lessons, but I continued playing the piano. Then, in my 40’s I decided to pursue lessons, again. I returned to college. Even though I was an English major, I took piano lessons from a professor in the music department.

I didn’t enjoy piano lessons at first. She said I had many bad habits with my fingering. After a few semesters, I developed better technique. Piano lessons became times of musical growth for me.

One semester, I took a journalism class. I interviewed my music professor. She told me teaching piano to students is like planting seeds. Some seeds grow into strong plants. Other seeds fall into the cracks and never grow into a plant at all.

She thought of herself as planting the seeds of music. Some people will grow into strong musicians. The piano teacher’s job is only to plant the seeds.

This reminds me of the Parable of the Sower. Some seeds fall by the wayside. Other seeds yield a crop and grow toward the sun. It is only our job to plant the seeds.

Today, I am grateful for the piano teachers I’ve had. My hands glide onto the keys. Hopefully, I’ve grown into a strong musician.

It all started one day in Florida when the most beautiful piano music came in through the windows at the back of our house.

Lisa Lerman is a pianist and writer who lives in New Bedford, Massachusetts. lisalerman.blog