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Tim Dillon’s favorite generation—the only generation to “grow older but not wiser“—seems permanent.  The ubiquity of Boomerdom in all aspects of American life for over seventy years gives the demographic cohort the veneer of eternity, a massive, limitless generation that will never die—and never stop working.

Dr. Fiancée and I are both the children of Boomers, and our parents very much represent the good Boomer traits of hard work, diligence, self-restraint, etc.  They possess some of the more benign aspects of Boomerism, like a love of buying random trinkets at Target, but they aren’t mired in the soulless consumerism that infested so much of their generation.  In other words, “Not All Boomers Are Like That.”

But, goodness, a lot of them are like that:  temperamental with service professionals (doctors, waiters, administrative assistants, airline attendants, and anyone else who provides some kind of service); pennywise-and-pound-foolish; extravagant in their self-indulgence, but miserly in the extreme; gluttonous for public services, without any regard to the social contract; and (I strongly suspect) fearful of death.

They also absolutely refuse to leave the workforce, while simultaneously refusing to adapt to new economic realities.  I’ve read that Millennials (my generation, which is not exactly rose-scented, either) are aspiring Boomers, which is true:  we’ve spent most of our disjointed careers trying to appease the vagaries of Boomer corporate leadership in the oft-vain attempt to build decent lives for ourselves.  We grew up suckling at the teat of Boomer largesse, only to have the bottle stripped away in early adulthood; many of us (and I would partially include myself in this analysis) have been striving to get back to the relative ease and luxury of our childhoods ever since.

Granted, I know how the Boomers will respond, because I have written on this topic before.  I get it; it’s not nice or even fair to have your entire generation called out (believe me, as a Millennial, I know:  apparently, all of our problems stem from wanting to put avocado on our toast, not the fact that we started our careers during the Great Recession and have endured repeated economic downturns).  But before you go post a rant on Facebook about how “entitled” my generation is (a bit rich, but the Boomers aren’t exactly known for their introspection), let me say something positive:

Boomers—we need you.

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