130 Baby Boomer "Firsts" make Boomers special

It seems to me that part of the dilemma facing today’s aging Baby Boomers is that they feel stuck. See, not only are Boomers the last of an era—getting most of their values from the 20^th Century and their Depression Era parents—but they’re the first of an era too, relating more to Generation X, Echo Boomers and the Hip Hoppers as peers instead of protégés. Without any strong generational divides, Baby Boomers seem a bit confused.

See, Boomers have one foot in the Industrial Age (before their jobs got automated or outsourced) and the other foot in the Information Age (where everyone gets to work at home). Boomers are the new village elders, so let's get real; 60 is not the new 30! In order to enjoy authentic Village Elder status it seems to me that Boomers should embrace all the history they’ve changed and acknowledge all of their incredible firsts.

COMING INTO THE WORLD, Baby Boomers were the first generation to:

1. Wear disposable diapers..
2. Be raised by Dr. Spock.
3. Be saved by penicillin as infants.
4. Use two-ply toilet paper.
5. Enjoy a wide variety of baby food, toys, and entertainment venues.
6. Watch television.

GROWING UP, Baby Boomers were the first generation to:

7. Eat barbecue potato chips.
8. Eat a cake mom made from cake mix, instead of scratch.
9. Eat a McDonald’s® hamburger.
10. Carry school lunch in Tupperware®
11. Use hair spray from aerosol cans.
12. Watch Saturday morning cartoons.
13. Have a closet full of battery operated toys.
14. Shop for toys and games in a toy store.
15. See partners sleep in the same bed on television.
16. Hear profanity on television.
17. See televised sports (other than boxing, wrestling or Roller Derby).
18. Eat TV dinners.
19. Eat microwave meals.
20. Play with Barbie dolls.
21. See an in-flight movie.
22. Send a letter or package Air Mail.
23. Grow up with plastic.
24. Play with Frisbees ® , Hula Hoops, Play-Doh, Slinky, Mr. Potato Head and Legos.
25. Get six-month dental check ups.
26. Watch a moon landing on television (or anywhere else, for that matter).
27. Call 9-1-1 in any city and reach an emergency operator.
28. Grow up under the threat of atomic, chemical, biological and nuclear war.
29. Wear Velcro ® instead of having to tie everything.

IN THEIR TEEN YEARS, Baby Boomers were the first generation to:

30. Have co-ed college dormitories.
31. Hold college panty raids.
32. Listen to FM on a car radio.
33. Listen to stereo sound.
34. Listen to 45 rpm records.
35. Rock ‘n’ Roll.
36. Use a push button telephone.
37. Practice birth control by pill.
38. Wear different sneakers for different sports.
39. Use tampons.
40. Wear pantyhose.
41. Wear a bikini bathing suit.
42. Wear rubber gloves for washing dishes.
43. Wear polyester clothes.
44. Wear designer blue jeans.
45. Have designated disabled parking and public telephones.
46. Wear contact lenses.
47. Enter the Information Age.
48. Shop in a mall.
49. Own a bicycle that shifts gears.
50. Drive on freeways anywhere in the country.
51. Have the Surgeon General’s warning printed on cigarette labels.
52. Recognize women’s rights, gay rights, civil rights and animal rights.
53. Denounce a war.
54. Call air pollution, “smog.”

AS YOUNG ADULTS, Baby Boomers were the first generation to:

55. Use non-dairy creamer.
56. Own a color television.
57. Have a credit card before getting a job.
58. Flip the dial on the television set by remote control.
59. Get an automatic can opener for a wedding present.
60. Bank electronically.
61. Take classes in computer programming or computer graphics.
62. Bank after 3 p.m. Monday through Thursday.
63. Bank on Saturday.
64. Use a cheap portable calculator.
65. Watch/play sports on AstroTurf.
66. Drink diet soda.
67. Carry a hand-held calculator.
68. Eat fruit-flavored yogurt.
69. Watch calories.
70. Consume sugar substitutes.
71. Count cholesterol.
72. Wear acrylic fingernails.
73. Use self-tans.
74. Get breast implants.
75. Get a vasectomy.
76. Get artificially inseminated,
77. Or get a legal abortion.
78. Use electrolysis for cosmetic reasons.
79. Consider genetics in having kids.
80. Eat multi-grain cereals.
81. Stock up on vitamins and nutritional supplements.
82. Call marijuana an “herb.”
83. Smoke LSD.
84. Take Valium.
85. Call the sexual assault of an intimate, “date rape.”
86. Shop for clothes and beauty products on television.
87. Wear designer sunglasses.
88. Care about animal rights.
89. More or less sanction interracial marriage.
90. Get a no-fault divorce.
91. Bring charges against a spouse or partner for domestic violence.
92. Recycle for fun.
93. Willingly (more or less) use condoms.
94. Die from AIDs.

At WORK, Baby Boomers were the first generation to:

95. Make a photocopy.
96. Use a Post It ® note.
97. Bring charges against someone for sexual harassment.
98. Question Authority.
99. Work in an office cubicle.
100. Work in an air-conditioned office.
101. Become female newscasters, police officers, fire fighters, paramedics and astronauts.
102. Use a computer to input work.
103. Use computers at home and work.
104. Make a multi-media presentation at work.

In LIFESTYLES, Baby Boomers were the first generation to:

105. Subscribe to cable TV.
106. Use a portable telephone.
107. Watch videocassette movies.
108. Travel by airplane for pleasure.
109. Wear orthodontics for cosmetic purposes.
110. Change eye color for cosmetic purposes.
111. Consciously buy American-made products.
112. Diet as an obsession.
113. Have two paychecks in the family.
114. Use the word “trendy.”
115. Carry credit cards.
116. Own a home computer.
117. Make Ecology a movement.
118. Buy a condominium.
119. Read a book on tape.
120. Revolt against taxes.

APPROACHING RETIREMENT, Baby Boomers are the first generation to:

121. Spend more than they earn.
122. Call slums, ghettos and barrios, the “inner city.”
123. Care for two generations—an elder and a child or grandchild.
124. Own a vacation home.
125. Fear for the future of the Social Security system.
126. Fear terrorism.
127. Fear “illegal aliens.”
128. Fear getting old.
129. Fear death.
130. Work overtime to bring about the End Times through endless wars.