We Used to Call Them Blue Hairs or Don’t Call Me Boomer, OK?

Image by Jackie Ramirez from Pixabay

OK, Boomer, the verbal firebomb of young people, really got under my skin. According to some circular logic, that means I’m a narcissistic old turd. Then I read about Q-Tips and I got deeply offended. I realized it’s not the label I hate, it’s the fact that I am older and I’m uncomfortable in my aging skin. But I hate the label too, because I am not a widget.

I lived in South Florida, the land Jerry Seinfeld made famous in his standup routine. He got huge laughs in Florida where we could relate to his barbs about old people driving, eating, and just being. Back in my day we called all those old folks Blue hairs — because the women got their white hair tinted when they went for their weekly perm. Generational bashing is not new.

Apparently, we kids have grown into our own white hair and wear it without a tint. When in a gaggle, we look like Q-Tips. Technically true, but very unflattering.

image by author

We are all different, you know. Your stereotyping of us as selfish, yelling, brooding Boomers may have some validity, but it is not the whole story. While the Villages in Florida and other Over 55 communities may seem like hotbeds of cookie…