General Discussion

That's what the baby boomers are known as now. We're taking care of elderly parents and sometimes working two jobs to help out our children. It's a tough place to be, trust me.

I grew up in your parents' generation but not in the conditions you describe. My father worked 6 days a week, as did many fathers. There was one car, without a radio, that was parked on the street on the one day Dad was home. Families didn't have one or two children...this was the baby boom, so there were 5 and 6 kids in many households. Those poor mothers did not get much of a break from child rearing. Christmas presents? The only reason we got more than one present was because of our grandparents, bless their souls.

We grew up with horrible racism and sexism. Watch a few episodes of Mad Men. That show hits the nail on the head. As young girls with athletic potential, there were no sports for us. Title IX didn't come along until 1972. Can you imagine being a girl in those days, doing the President's Council for Physical Fitness tests in a dress (because wearing pants was forbidden)---running the Mile in penny loafers, a dress and full slip and still beating the guys? So what though, there was no use for a girl who could run fast.

I guess what I'm trying to say is that every generation has it's own challenges. I think the biggest challenge for your generation is the lack of jobs that pay a living wage. Also, the cost of higher education escalated far beyond many peoples' reach---that wasn't the case for me and your dad.

I don't believe it's a generational issue. It's more of a class warfare type of problem. The corporations have shipped our good jobs overseas. It affects your generation ($$$$ spent on education and no jobs available) and mine (forced to retire early with no health care, retirement funds decimated, and no jobs available).

We can use the disillusionment and work together to try to improve conditions for all of us.

Good luck.