Why I embrace being a "boomer".....

[sc_rufctr]

I had my 60th birthday yesterday.

[Baz]

Originally Posted by sc_rufctr

I had my 60th birthday yesterday.

HBD kid!

[wdfifteen]

Originally Posted by sc_rufctr

I had my 60th birthday yesterday.

Congratulations!

In February '65, when you were just being born, I was 14 years old, milking cows for a guy down the road and dreaming of cars and girls.
Now, our lives are relatively alike.
Strange to think of that.

[Baz]

Originally Posted by NY65912

Born in '55. Lived the 60's in the school yard where I got an "education". Came of age in the '70s got married, bought a house, had a child 81/82 and never regretted a second. Boomers were lucky enough to enjoy analog life when walking around with a toy rifle was the norm for a boy.

We played a LOT of "army"!

Everything from toy soldiers (army men) to (like you said) running around trying to shoot and kill the enemy!

[fintstone]

Originally Posted by flatbutt

How many here HAD to work their way through college as I did?

If being born at "3rd and a half base" means working 11PM to 7 AM for years and attending college during the day, then I'm guilty as charged.

I guess hard work builds character...so I was born on "3rd and a half base" as well. The holes in one's shoes just make them run faster.

It seems there are always folks that seem to have it good and folks that seem to have a hard time. Luckily in this country, we have the opportunity to rise above humble beginnings...more than anywhere in the world.

[Bill Douglas]

Originally Posted by sc_rufctr

I had my 60th birthday yesterday.

Happy birthday Peter. I hope you had a good time.

[sc_rufctr]

Thanks Bill. I had a blast with my family.

[Bill Douglas]

Excellent. Can't beat a day like that.

[wdfifteen]

Like Les, I grew up on a small farm. I can relate to his posts about his farm experiences, but the posts about family vacations and playing - not so much.
I never really learned how to play. To this day I do not understand the point of an amusement park.
My brother and I began working on the farm as soon as we were able to carry a bucket of water. I didn't think of it as drudgery, I enjoyed it. I learned a lot and the experience has served me well.
When my son was young he had free time to play, and he learned how. I thought it was a frivolous waste of time. When he was about 12 he got a season pass to the big amusement park in SW Ohio (Kings Island). I overheard him tell his mother that his big accomplishment for the summer was going to King's Island 12 times. I thought, "WTF is wrong with this kid? He'll never amount to anything!" (He's a PhD medical researcher at Boston University Hospital now.)
To this day my idea of "fun" is building something, fixing something, or learning something new. I'm not comfortable doing something just for the fun of it.
Instead of disparaging my son's enjoyment of play I should have let him show me how to enjoy it. But I knew everything then, I had my view of how the world should be and no one could tell me anything different.
I regret never learning how to play. I think it's an important part of life. Working as a kid is all well and good, but you need balance.

[KFC911]

That's profound Patrick.... and we are all so different.

I was a "work hard"/"play hard" walking contradiction .... always teetering

[KFC911]

Originally Posted by sc_rufctr

I had my 60th birthday yesterday.

Kidz...

You hardly look a day over fitty-nine

HB Peter...

[NY65912]

Originally Posted by Baz

We played a LOT of "army"!

Everything from toy soldiers (army men) to (like you said) running around trying to shoot and kill the enemy!

I still have my Remco Bazooka with the blue rounds! I let the grandkids play with it and get sideways looks from the moms. Sheesh

[Rapewta]

Post # 8 sums up my youth.
Mom was a wonderful homemaker. Pop was gone during the week. Never got into arguments around us kids.
I never stayed in the house if I could help it. Home by dinner time. Paper route.
Saw Jimi Hendrix in 68. Graduated HS in 68. 4 years in the service and got married, bought a house and we had kids. Only two different employers in 40 years. Kids became great parents. Have Grandkids now.
No regrets.

[masraum]

Originally Posted by sc_rufctr

I had my 60th birthday yesterday.

Congrats! Another year above ground! Happy Belated Birthday, fella!

[GH85Carrera]

My keys to freedom. That bike weighed about 50 pounds. OK slightly less.

I had to have the frame welded back together a few times from to many jumps over curbs, and ramps. This photo is in front of our "house" on base at Maxwell AFB. It was a former barracks, that had several residences in one building. Just a fire wall bestrewn us and the neighbors. Dad was a Captain at the time.

I rode the base perimeter road on a regular basis. At one point it was at the end of the runway. It was cool to stand there as B-52s and C5As landed and coming just feet over our heads. There is a small cemetery in that area, with graves from the 1800s.

[rwest]

Originally Posted by GH85Carrera

My keys to freedom. That bike weighed about 50 pounds. OK slightly less.

I had to have the frame welded back together a few times from to many jumps over curbs, and ramps. This photo is in front of our "house" on base at Maxwell AFB. It was a former barracks, that had several residences in one building. Just a fire wall bestrewn us and the neighbors. Dad was a Captain at the time.

I rode the base perimeter road on a regular basis. At one point it was at the end of the runway. It was cool to stand there as B-52s and C5As landed and coming just feet over our heads. There is a small cemetery in that area, with graves from the 1800s.

I have been known to say that my driver’s license was the worst thing to happen to me!

I too rode my bike everywhere when I was a kid. Most ridden route was to the local pharmacy to buy model kits; probably 3 or 4 miles away. Rode to my friend’s house, summer school, Dairy Queen and to do my paper route.

Born in 68, so my sweet spot would have been the late seventies and early eighties.

Very subjective, but I would hazard a guess that the few decades before smart phones and social media hit hard would have been some of the best times to be a kid.

[Rtrorkt]

As my T-Shirt says, "I may be old but I saw all of the great bands"

[VINMAN]

While I'm technically a Boomer, born Nov 64..., I've always considered myself more a Gen Xer.

Love the time period I grew up in.

.

[flatbutt]

Originally Posted by wdfifteen

...
To this day my idea of "fun" is building something, fixing something, or learning something new. I'm not comfortable doing something just for the fun of it.
.....

That sounds conflicted. If your idea of fun is building something etc then you are having fun.

Heck I earned a 2nd BA just for the fun of it.

I suppose the sense of accomplishment that comes with all of the aforementioned can be perceived as fun. It's all in the eye of the beholder.

[GH85Carrera]

Originally Posted by wdfifteen

Like Les, I grew up on a small farm. I can relate to his posts about his farm experiences, but the posts about family vacations and playing - not so much.

I never really learned how to play. To this day I do not understand the point of an amusement park.

My brother and I began working on the farm as soon as we were able to carry a bucket of water. I didn't think of it as drudgery, I enjoyed it. I learned a lot and the experience has served me well.

When my son was young he had free time to play, and he learned how. I thought it was a frivolous waste of time. When he was about 12 he got a season pass to the big amusement park in SW Ohio (Kings Island). I overheard him tell his mother that his big accomplishment for the summer was going to King's Island 12 times. I thought, "WTF is wrong with this kid? He'll never amount to anything!" (He's a PhD medical researcher at Boston University Hospital now.)

To this day my idea of "fun" is building something, fixing something, or learning something new. I'm not comfortable doing something just for the fun of it.

Instead of disparaging my son's enjoyment of play I should have let him show me how to enjoy it. But I knew everything then, I had my view of how the world should be and no one could tell me anything different.

I regret never learning how to play. I think it's an important part of life. Working as a kid is all well and good, but you need balance.

I understand that. People ask me why I drive high mileage old mid 1980s cars. Part of the hobby of cars for me is fixing and trouble shooting problems, and finding a fix. I don't work on any other cars, well except oil changes on my wife's car.