Depression Babies vs. Boomers

Children born right around the stock market crash of 1929 are called depression babies. There is commonality to the stories of children born of this generation: they had to walk 27 miles up a hill in a snowstorm to get to school. They played kick the can because they had no real toys. They slept in a bedroom (if that) with all their siblings. They owned one pair of shoes at a time. Their clothing was often hand-me-downs. They had no telephone—only a radio if they were lucky.

And the war years—when the economy improved significantly—produced another set of problems. Things were rationed. People had victory gardens. There was a different kind of uncertainty. Despite people having more money in their pockets supplies fell short of demand.

And the repercussions of this depression/war time period wreaked havoc on the psyche of this generation. They became overly cautious—conservative. They experienced a collective post-traumatic stress. The fallout was that no matter how much money this generation accumulated in their lifetime, they were concerned about finance.

My mother is a depression baby. She is not poor. But it does not matter. She is scarred---as are many of her era. She is afflicted with saving-it-for-good syndrome. My mother buys new things and then feels obligated not to wear or use those things immediately. She must save new purchases for an occasion even if the future poses no opportunity. There is an unspoken dating system. It is as if there is a mathematical formula involving the dollars spent times in relation to the elapsed time of purchase. The more expensive the item—the longer it must sit in the closet or dresser with the tags on before use. And then, once worn, the cycle begins all over again until the item is no longer considered “good” anymore.

I have been admonished on many occasions for buying something new and wearing it the very next day. My mother will say Are you wearing that already? You just bought it!

To me, that is the point of buying something new—wearing it. If I do not wear it now I might not have a reason to do so in the future. Clothing fades, wears out, and goes out of fashion whether you put in on your body or not so might as well enjoy it while you can.

My generation—the baby boomers-- believes in living in the moment. Use or lose. It is also why we must work until we are 90. We have enjoyed our purchasing and high standard of living with little regard for our old age. We assumed we will be dead first—which (fortunately) did not exactly happen.

My generation did not get it right any more than the depression babies did.

Maybe that is the point. No generation ever gets it right. Every generation has its quirks and collective unreasonability. It’s why karma is such a bitch—evolution is never perfect—the pendulum always swings too far in one direction. It always needs tweaking.

Maybe evolution is saving getting-it-right “for good.”