They Call Us The Elderly

They call us ”The Silent Generation” and “Baby Boomers.”

• We were born in the 40-50-60’s.
• We grew up in the 50-60-70’s.
• We studied in the 50-60-70-80’s.
• We were dating in the 60-70-80-90’s.
• We got married and discovered the world in the 60-70-80-90’s.
• We ventured into the 70-80-90’s.
• We stabilized in the 2000s.
• We got wiser in the 2010s.
• And we are going firmly through and beyond the 2020s.
• It turns out we’ve lived through EIGHT different decades.
• TWO different centuries…
• TWO different millennia…
• We have gone from telephones with an operator needed for long-distance calls to video calls anywhere in the world using low-earth satellites.
• We’ve traveled early on via twin-prop planes such as the DC-3 which had a capacity of 32 passengers, to now with jet planes that carry hundreds of passengers non-stop to destinations around the world.
• We have gone from overhead projectors to slides, to YouTube, from vinyl records to online music, from handwritten letters to emails and text messaging, and now video calls.
• From live matches on the radio to black and white TV, color TV, and even 3D HD TV.
• We went to the Video store and now we watch Netflix and an array of streaming services.
• We got to know the first computers, such as the Radio Shack TSR-80, used punch cards for college projects, later floppy disks to memory sticks, and now we have gigabytes and megabytes on our smartphones.
• We wore shorts throughout our childhood and then long trousers, Oxfords, flares, shell suits & blue jeans.
• We dodged meningitis, polio, tuberculosis, swine flu, Hong Kong flu, and most recently COVID-19.
• We rode skates, tricycles, bicycles, mopeds, and gas or diesel cars and now we drive hybrids or EVs.
• Yes, we’ve been through a lot but what a great life we’ve had!
• We could be described as “exennials”; people who were born long ago with an analog childhood that evolved through digital adulthood.