Archives for August 2026

I’m confused, and you can’t say that it’s because I’m a baby boomer and we’re all in a confused pre-Alzheimers state. I just heard that there is a new demographic known as Generation Z, AKA the Silent Generation, and I’m worried that they have run out of letters for the next generations.

Generation X I get. Supposedly, it came from a study of British youth who “sleep together before they are married, don’t believe in God, dislike the Queen, and don’t respect parents.” Sound like nice kids. Then Douglas Coupland picked it up in his book Generation X: Tales for an Accelerated Culture and the term was off and running. Then came the term “twenty something,” but however you slice it, Gen X refers to the demo that was born between 1964 and 1979, although many will and do argue about the exact dates.

So just as surely as night follows day, Gen X has to be followed by Gen Y, and you can begin to see how we are going to run out the alphabet here. Also referred to as the Millenials or Internet generation, they would be the Class of 2000, having been born in 1982. They also have been referred to as the Second Baby Boom, because as I don’t need to tell you, they are our kids. You could hardly call Gen Y rebels, but it would be safe to say that authority figures have only marginal success with Gen Yers.

That brings us to Z, and it would appear, the end of the line, the 26th letter, the last straw, good old Zed. Born mid to late 1990s, the Zeds are being called the new silent generation if you read Generations, the book by Struass and Howe. Their theory is that generations are cyclical and this current crop is going to behave more like the first silent generation (many of whom were our parents). It’s sad to know that they are already being called the Homeland Generation because they must grow up with a hyper ventilating sense that we are fighting terrorists “there” so that they won’t come “here.”

For some reason Gen Z is also known as the Alpha Generation, and while that may not be cause for celebration, it does give me hope that at least there’s room at the head of the alphabet for many more generations to come.

From the Best of BoomSpeak. 2007. Even back then the generation appellations were confusing. Now it’s worse. 

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.

Add blue jeans to the list of things that aren’t as good as they used to be.

When I was a kid, blue jeans were blue. Dark blue. Navy blue. And they were stiff.

Oh, they could be folded. One could, with some effort, stand or sit while wearing new blue jeans. But it was a workout.

Everyone at school knew when you had new blue jeans. It was not, as I seem to recall, entirely favorable notice. Of course, when you’re an adolescent, unless you’ve just scored the winning basket at the big basketball game, almost any notice is unwelcome, at least initially. Coming to school in a new pair of blue jeans was nothing like winning the big game.

Everyone else, in their more faded, softer blue jeans was far more comfortable.

There was an element of risk the first time a new pair of blue jeans were washed, too. My mother always wanted them soaked in a vinegar solution to hold the color.

That was just like parents: Darker jeans were definitely less cool than faded jeans; therefore parents instinctively favored darker jeans. Whether vinegar was used or not, however, anything washed with the new blue jeans was apt to turn at least a robin’s egg blue.

Faded blue jeans were celebrated in songs during the 1960s for a reason: By the time a pair of blue jeans were properly faded, they’d been lived in. Your favorite blue jeans were privy to your habits, good and bad, and even your secrets, if you had any. When the knees went, applying a patch was much more than garment repair; it was first aid for a friend.

The modern blue jean is neither particularly blue nor particularly stiff. Today the garment is marketed to us Baby Boomers as ‘relaxed fit’ and ‘stone washed.’

It turns out that relaxed fit doesn’t just mean that six of your high school selves could occupy those pants. And it turns out that “stone washed” is literally true.

On one of those “How Its Made” programs aired on the Science Channel I learned that new blue jeans are pre-washed in what amounts to giant washing machines. Instead of fabric softener sheets, actual stones — small boulders, even — are washed with the jeans to ‘break them in’ before they’re foisted on a lazy public.

Either the modern jeans consumer is too sensitive about the reaction obtained when wearing new jeans or too lazy to break them in as we did in the 1960s and 70s. Blue jeans fade now after being laundered only a few times — and why not? They’ve already gone through extraordinary wear (and even tear) before getting put on the shelves.

And every parent knows that pre-torn jeans are more expensive.

When a patch is required, as it will be all too soon on the modern blue jean, the item is not an old friend; it’s hardly even a casual acquaintance.

If anyone knows where old-style, sturdy denim jeans may be obtained, please let me know. Of course, the jeans would have to come in aircraft-carrier sizes….

From the Best of BoomSpeak, March 2011

Curmudgeon is a self-described dinosaur — an Ozzie and Harriet person living in an Ozzy and Sharon world. And sometimes it confuses the heck out of him. 

You know there are things that baby boomers say sometimes that make them sound like old fogies (Whatever a fogey is. It’s from the French word fougeux and is similar to but unrelated to old codger).

It turns out that millennials have many of the same complaints. Someone on redditor asked the Millennial community to share their fogie/old adult opinions, and the following is a brief sampling of what was received. You’ll feel better about your favorite millennial after seeing what they had to say.

“No, you cannot listen to music/videos/calls/whatever in public without headphones.”

“I was sitting in the waiting room at the doctor’s office and a woman (likely another millennial) was FaceTiming without headphones!!”

“New car headlights are too damn bright!”

”It’s like everyone has their high beams on all the time. Add to that the fact that every car is a dang SUV, so they’re all shining RIGHT IN YOUR EYEBALLS.”

“Not everything needs to be recorded/photographed and posted online, whether it’s for good, like taking excessive vacation pictures, or for bad, like recording arguments between strangers.”

“Please give me a real menu. I really hate having to try to scroll through a whole menu on my tiny ass phone… If you’re going to have a QR code for a menu, at least make sure it’s mobile-friendly.”

“Manners go a long way. Having and using manners makes you feel good. It is about respecting other human beings and showing them that you do. It feels good to be polite, respectful, and generous. Manners are not disingenuous. They help others feel welcome, comfortable, appreciated, and at ease.”

“Stop speeding in neighborhoods! Also, stop blatantly running red lights. We all got places to be… stop trying to kill everyone else to get there.”

“I am not instantly available at any waking moment just because it is technically possible for me to see your message immediately on my electronic device.”

“If I say something to you, I’d like an acknowledgment that you heard me.”

“The way that Gen Z makes hearts with their hands makes me deeply unsettled.”

“I get so angry when I see people using their phone in their hand while driving and not paying attention to the road. Get a phone mount.”

Jay Harrison is a writer and creative consultant for DesignConcept. His newest 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.