To celebrate the Winter Solstice and welcome the soon to be increasing light, I picked up a small bag of chocolate treats. I’m sitting here staring at the screen while eating one dark chocolate amaretto-filled cordial after another. It was a toss-up between amaretto or rum. The rum cordials are ending up as a stocking stuffer for someone else, so the amaretto, sans stocking, are what I am stuffing my own face with. The explosion of the inner liquid after the dark chocolate and thin sugar casing is absolutely addictive and clearly not healthy, given the quantity I am devouring. I don’t think the bag will last after tonight – hopefully that will be the end of it. At this volume it is enough to bring your A1c levels to an all new high. I was hoping the sugar rush might push me into expelling all the thoughts smashing around in my head over the last few weeks. It’s definitely bringing out some stuff.

With all of the Big Things that are happening in the world, I keep thinking those issues deserve to be commented on. And yet, the fact is that there are always Big Things happening globally. Sometimes they affect you directly and sometimes it is with degrees of separation. Sometimes they touch only a portion of the world and other times it impacts everyone. There are moments you might think it doesn’t affect you, only to discover indeed it does, trickling into parts of your life with surprising force.

Once upon a time during that Renaissance period of young Boomer-hood, I honestly believed that the combination of ground-breaking scientific and medical discoveries, new technologies, spiritual awareness, a “back to the earth” connection with nature, an explosion of art and craft, sexual and personal freedom, education, truth, love, a little bit of pot, and an amazing wave of the most incredibly exciting music to herald it all in was going to be enough to carry this country and the entire world to a much, much better place. We were going to grow flowers and vegetables, make music and love, live off the land and raise our children in a safe, beautiful utopia.

Boy oh boy, was I naive, but I know I’m not the only one. That whole generational experiment played out to ending up as The Big Fail in many ways. Looking back on it all and trying to pinpoint exactly where it derailed…… I don’t know. Perhaps it was just all an illusion from the get-go, but at the time we seemed to be so full of hope and good intention.

I read and listen to Millennials, Gen X, Y and Z’s rail about what the Boomers have done to them. I can’t help but cringe at the hubris when some wise ass smirks “Okay Boomer,” in response to an older person who has something to say. Maybe it’s outdated or not in touch with current ideas, but is it really necessary to be so rude and dismissive to anybody?

I can’t speak too kindly or in support of those of our generation who were so greedy – who lied and cheated and stole from the rest of us, including their fellow Boomers and those generations that have come after. They ripped all of us off too, and I think we all feel a level of rage towards those in power who have done so. There are just as many Boomers that can barely afford to live, who are suffering without adequate healthcare or housing, who paid their entire lives into a Social Security system that is constantly being threatened. Rot will spread from the bad apples in any barrel.

A while back, a younger acquaintance who is a talented musician and artist – someone I happen to like – made an unnecessarily snarky “Okay Boomer” comment and it really pissed me off. I suddenly felt compelled to remind her (or perhaps educate her, if she happened to not know) about a few things of benefit that those selfish, horrific Boomers have left to her and her friends.

First and foremost that would be women’s rights. I’m sure there are so many things she takes totally for granted without a second thought. Even the simple act of choosing to wear pants to school if she felt like it, or almost any article of clothing, instead of being mandated to wear a skirt, and a skirt of certain length no less. The girls and women who were freezing their legs off walking to school in skirts, and having to sit a certain way in skirts, were the ones that stood up and fought to make that dress code change. How about the availability of birth control (most specifically The Pill) and all the freedom that has provided? And Roe v. Wade? Aren’t you lucky to be able to hook up with someone and not worry that you might have to mysteriously disappear from school to suddenly go live with your out-of-state aunt for nine months. Or some high school boy being forced to marry a girl in class because they were careless one night at a party. Thank the Boomers for making changes to that reality. How about Stonewall? Look it up if you don’t know and thank your gay Boomers for paving the way. And the draft…. the agony of waiting for your number to be called up to go to war. Something not remotely a part of their scope.

I reminded her that even as recently as when Gen-Xer’s were just being born, banks could still refuse to give a woman her own credit card, checking account or a mortgage without a man co-signing for her, until the Equal Credit Opportunity Act in 1974. I reminded her that along with the good things our own parents tried to provide for us, Boomers inherited a whole set of restrictions, social rules, prejudices, unsafe products and procedures, outdated laws, and plenty of weirdness from the generation before us, which we worked to change for the better. Boomers were involved in civil rights. Greenpeace was founded by Boomers. Boomers started the Peace Corp.

How about computers, and the internet that has become your life blood? Boomers.

It is true that Boomers and Gen-Xers (and even many younger people) have failed and continue to fail concerning the environment, although so many still try to do what they can to help. It is ironic that there was such a green movement back when Boomers were in their twenties. Once upon a time we were working on cleaning up the pollution and preserving our most precious resources. Now that is backsliding. Greed and selfishness drive the lack of solutions concerning saving our environment. Yet this disregard is not unique to just the Boomers. There is plenty of apathy going around amidst the following generations too. We are all in this together.

Despite the accusations, there is not one Boomer I personally know who is happy about the state of the world that is being left to our very own children and grandchildren. Do you honestly think any of us wanted this for our kids? I don’t know anyone my age who isn’t worried and upset and depressed about the pollution, the terrifying state of politics, of war, the hate and violence towards each other, the looming threat of environmental disaster and collapse, the quality of our food, the state of healthcare, the lack of safety, the cost and quality of education, the haves vs. the have nots. None of us wants those things for our loved ones and none of us set out with any intention of hurting those we love most in the world, let alone of hurting ourselves during the years we are still on this earth. And yet here we are.

*Earworm of the day:

And so this is Christmas
And what have we done?
Another year over
And a new one just begun

We started out with good intention and lots of hope. There is much beauty in this world and there still can be. If you have children, no doubt you will love them too. And you are going to make mistakes and screw some things up, even if you had the best of intentions. Your best minds are going to have to take the lead, turn it around and bring this in a new direction. Okay Millennial? Okay Gen XYZ? So what are you going to do for the generations after you?

Well, whew! Clearly dark chocolate amaretto cordials have opened a door here. I was going to not post this but I think I’m just gonna let it fly. During these holidays (and always), wishing for peace, love, understanding, and all that other Boomer stuff that is from the heart.

*”Happy Xmas (War Is Over)” by John Lennon, 1971