We Boomers, we’ve seen some Schiff. Our parents were Greatest Generation folks, full of tales of the Depression and World War 2. We saw the rise of rock & roll, we watched Vietnam on the news every evening in living color – and a lot of us went over there and saw it for real, up close and personal. We lived through the Cold War. We saw Nixon fall, we saw honest old Gerald Ford go right in there and start hitting his head on helicopter doors. We felt embarrassed when a gang of 7th-century barbarians took over a country, stormed our embassy, and held a bunch of our people hostage for over a year, until Ronald Reagan took office, having promises to show the barbarians what the “or else” was.
We’ve seen a lot, and these young whippersnappers these days, they have no idea – but now, a service has popped up near the campus of Boston University, where an old-fashioned phone booth (yes, we Boomers remember those, too) can instantly place a young skull full of mush in contact with a Boomer in Nevada.
As Boston residents get outside this spring, those walking along Commonwealth Avenue near the Boston University campus may see an unusual sight: a phone housed in a bright yellow box with the words “call a boomer” emblazoned on it.
The idea, cooked up by the biotech company Matter Neuroscience, is simple. One phone sits on the streets of Boston (OK, technically, Brookline), available for anyone to use. Another phone sits in the lobby of Sierra Manor, an affordable housing building for seniors in Reno, Nevada. Interested users on either end can pick up the phone, automatically dialing the counterpart on the other side of the country.
Now, “Dial-a-Boomer” may well be a better idea than these young people may think. Sure, the Baby Boomers gave the nation hippies, Vietnam War protests, and a generation of Democratic dominance in Congress. But give us a little credit; we also gave the country eight years of Ronald Reagan and victory over the Soviet Union in the Cold War. We kicked some and took some in Desert Storm, and while we’re all grandmas and grandpas now, plenty of us are veterans and would still be happy to kick a few if called on to do so.
And why shouldn’t these young kids with no life experience and not much but feathers between their ears rely on a Boomer for advice?
The phones are free to use. If no one picks up on the other end, users will be able to leave voicemails. The conversations are being recorded, and Matter is planning on using snippets of some of them on social media.
“Younger adults and older adults tend to experience the highest levels of loneliness of any age group, so the goal of this project is to inspire generational connection through meaningful conversations, despite differences in age, lifestyle, or politics,” a plaque on the phone reads.
Here’s the question: What kind of advice could these young folks get from an aging Boomer?
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Well, I can only answer for myself. I’m nowhere near that phone in Nevada, but on occasion, I’m called upon to give some advice, solicited or unsolicited, to a younger person. A few key points I might tell these young skulls full of mush:
- Nobody owes you anything. You want something? Work for it.
- Nobody gives a crap about your feelings.
- Facts matter, whether you like them or not.
- Some people will tell you, “Everyone lies.” Horse squeeze. Many people (like me) always tell the truth. You should, too.
- Work comes first. Screw around on your own time.
I could go on, but that would be a good start; give these young people a few things to chew on.
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