BOOMER BOOMER by: HENRY HUSCHKE staff writer A few months ago, I was driving from Midland to TC with my dad and Billie Eilish’s song “Bad Guy” came on the radio. For you Boomers out there, “Bad Guy” topped the charts all last year. My 52 year old dad suddenly asked about the song. I, somewhat stunned, replied ““Bad Guy,” by Billie Eilish.” My dad exclaimed, “Billy Eyelash! What kind of name is that?” After a piece of my soul died, I accepted the fact that my dad just didn’t listen to the radio regularly. It was not like I was a big Billie Eilish fan anyways. I decided to accept the fact that he just doesn’t listen to the radio. But instead of letting the conversation die, my dad continued to circle back to the name, repeating “Billy Eyelash” probably twenty more times as if he craved not knowing basic pop culture. The next time he said it, I just replied, “OOOOOHHH-KAY BOOOOOOMMER!” “OK boomer” has taken over American pop culture. For those that have not heard it. “OK boomer” is a meme (A catchphrase people share on the internet) that means the old folks just don’t get it. Its popularity displays a sentiment that has been universal throughout time. Teens feel like their elders have this sense of superiority and wisdom that is not based in current times. Meanwhile, elders feel like the next generation’s ideas are dangerous and worse than the ideas they had when they were young. To see whether my conceptions of generational clash have any footing in reality, I talked to a variety of Central Students and staff.
What do you think about the older generations in our society? “I think in general older generations like to pick on younger generations, and that’s just normal. That’s always happened. But everybody has their own little unique perspective, so everybody has their own little passions.” -Kelly Smith Gen Y
What do you think about the concept of generations? “The younger people always thought that the older people didn’t know what they were talking about. Now the older people have to remember what they were like when they were younger, because I feel like the younger people still kind of feel this way. You don’t want to hold it against them, you just want to help them learn it together.” -Marla Gerber Gen X 20 // BGQ // March 2020 20 // BGQ // April 2020
What makes you the most optimistic about the future? “I’ve always been pretty optimistic because every year I get to teach a great group of kids. There’s always a couple of yo-yos, but by and large kids are still kids and kids want to learn.” -Joe Forlenza aka JoFlo Boomer What do you think about teens? “I think you guys really have it going on. I think you are smarter than we ever were at your age. It kind of blows me away. I do worry about some of the anxiety that is happening with our students. I do worry about a lot of the things younger kids are exposed to.” -Diane Burden Boomer What do you think of the phrase Ok Boomer? “It reflects ignorance, judgment, ageism, and disrespect. It is dismissive and pejorative and it reflects poorly on younger generations.” -Lisa Dohm Boomer
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