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Hey Baby Boomers, grow up!
By TRACEY JACKSON
Last Updated: 12:30 AM, February 27, 2011
Posted: 10:51 PM, February 26, 2011

Baby Boomers are having a hard time. Not just with the economy, or the health issues that crop up in your 50s and 60s, or even getting caught between taking care of our aging parents and unemployed kids.

No, I’m talking about the fact that many Boomers, of which I am one, do not want to grow up.

Those of us born in the Baby Boomer period, between 1946 and 1964, range in age from 47 to 65. We are either on the young side of old, or we’re just a hop, skip and hopefully not a fall into 70.

I don’t know that we mind growing up, but many of us don’t want to grow old. But certain Boomer minds have somehow merged the two. In order not to grow old, they have taken the position that they will simply not grow up.

You see it in the absurd notion put forward by journalists and advertisers — “50 is the new 30.” “60 is the new 40.” We buck each other up by dressing and behaving like it’s true, as though if we repeat it enough we will actually make it so.

And because we are Boomers and have been at the forefront of so many innovations, from rock ’n’ roll to the computer, some have this misguided impulse to act hip. Have you ever seen so many 50-year-olds dressed like teenagers? In my grandfather’s and even my father’s era, grown men did not wear sneakers, shorts, T-shirts and caps unless they were actually involved in an athletic activity. Grown men did not go to work looking like they were headed for sleep-away camp.

My grandfather dressed in slacks and a shirt and sensible shoes and a suit every day for work. There was no “casual Friday,” which may as well be called “dress like you’re a senior in high school Friday.” And my father did not hold onto the slang of his youth. Even I, who admittedly am not aging as gracefully as I probably should, cringe when I hear a 55-year-old say “awesome” or a 60-year-old say “gnarly.”

I want to yell, GROW UP! But what they will hear is “act your age”— and the last thing they want to admit is that they’re not young anymore.

Some women are just as bad, if not worse. These days, you find three generations — grandmother, mother and daughter — dressed identically. It’s enough to drive Patty Duke mad — a reference that will only mean something to you if you fall into this demographic.

Honestly, how often do you see them traipsing through the mall in matching Ugg boots, tucked into jeans, a T-shirt and a velour hoody? Grandma, who might be 65, mom, who could be 47, and junior, all attempting that eternally youthful Juicy look. You want to take grandma and mom aside and yell, GROW UP. But she fears if she removes her Uggs and her sequins and lets her face fall, she will not only be considered “old,” she will be.

But will she? Will the guy in the cap and T-shirt? Is it really that bad to realize that you’re not a teenager anymore and you shouldn’t try to act like one?

I’m not saying Boomers need to give up, to pull their pants up to their navels or dye their hair a nice hue of blue. But there’s such a thing as growing old gracefully, not clinging to the age you used to be. Maybe we can teach our granddaughters that bras can be wonderful things. Our husbands can teach their grandsons not to e-mail pictures of their private parts.

We once preached that you shouldn’t trust anyone over 30. Today, I’d advise — when it comes to fashion and slang and general comportment — perhaps we shouldn’t trust anyone under it.

Tracey Jackson is a screenwriter, documentary filmmaker and blogger. Her book “Between a Rock and a Hot Place: Why Fifty is Not the New Thirty” (Harper Collins) is out now.

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02/27/2011 12:15 AM

Tracey Jackson, if I were your boss I would fire you for being so wrong and not having a clue as to what your talking about. There is no conspiracy or out rite denial of baby boomers saying to them selves “I don’t want to grow old” I was born 1948 and I’m here to tell you the baby boomers generation is the coolist generation this nation has ever or will ever have. We don’t think about growing old, it’s not on our minds. We are just living life to it’s fullest, having fun and not looking back and sometimes not looking forward. We are the world, we are what’s happening. and you know what else, we ain’t leaving the kids or grandkids squat. What we can’t take with us in our death we are using it and spending it now. Annnnnd, when we are gone we could care less about the rest of the world including good ole U.S.of A. When we are gone this country is going to be a hallowed out broken down the tubes dirt hole not worth living in and with all our money that was invested in the stock market spent, well, you have my sympathy We are glad we aren’t going to be here to see it.

Read more: http://www.nypost.com/p/news/opinion/opedcolumnists/hey_baby_boomers_grow_up_VGP1IaaYxVukUacpQuoLvO#ixzz1F9mFehP6