The Invisible Generation

Do you ever feel lost? Forgotten? Invisible?

I have and I'm betting you have too. I'm reminded of the saying that the only feeling worse than being alone is being alone in a crowded room.
In this episode, I traverse the oft-overlooked landscape of the aging baby boomer generation, I open up about the bittersweet journey of feeling sidelined in a society that races towards the new, frequently sidelining the old. Will we lose stories untold and wisdom gained,  becoming a "forgotten generation,"?  Our rich history is in danger of being drowned out by the noise of progress. 
Invisible? Forgotten? How do we help each other? And why does the answer to our senior housing problem lie in an 80's sitcom?

We're asking the questions and looking for answers. Join us. My voice is your voice.

Chapters

• 0:05 The Forgotten and Invisible Generation
• 14:24 Bill Monty's Kindness and Self-Care Guide

Transcript

Speaker 1: 0:05

Welcome to the Guide for Getting Older. I am your host, bill Monty. Let's get the disclaimer out of the way first. While this show is for entertainment purposes only, we do provide some information. Based on my experience. You should check everything out yourself, because your situation is different than mine. Your situation is different than mine. Okay, I hope you're doing well today. I'm so glad you took time out of your day to take a few minutes to listen to the podcast.

Speaker 1: 0:31

We're excited to be back with you Today. We're going to talk about something that is really important and, I'm afraid, not in the forefront of discussion of what's happening in America, because we're all kind of tied up right now with some really important stuff that's going on. I'm not downplaying what else is happening, but we're beginning to miss the things that are happening right in front of our nose because we're looking at things that are on either a national or international scale. I'm going to give you two thoughts that are going to lead into this discussion. The one was something that I saw on social media today. It's kind of funny, isn't it weird being the same age as old people? Yes, it is. The other is who will remember you and for what become important factors as you age. Your love and your wisdom will live on far longer than any material thing you can pass down. Tell your stories. They can travel farther than you can imagine. Who will remember you and for what, become important factors as you age. So why is that relevant to what we're talking about today?

Speaker 1: 1:41

I keep hearing the phrase the greatest generation. The greatest generation are those people our parents, if you're of the baby boomer generation that came before us. They fought World War II. They came out of the Great Depression. They made the world supposedly a better place, and it was. It's gotten screwed up since then, but for a while there it was kind of like Camelot. There was that one brief shining moment where we were like Camelot. Now, those of us who were baby boomers, I'm afraid we can now slap on a new name for this generation, and it's sad.

Speaker 1: 2:16

And I'm going to give you specifics as to what I'm talking about. The first is I fear that we are becoming the forgotten generation. The first is I fear that we are becoming the forgotten generation. People just aren't thinking about seniors right now, or, as I like to call us, young people who have lived a long time. And I say that because in my head and I'm sure yours your thoughts and your hopes and your wishes and your aspirations are still that of the younger you, be that from your teenage years or your 20s or your 30s, when what you did was important to a small circle of people or to a larger circle of people. Perhaps it was just your family and your friends. Perhaps it was your temple or your church that you went to, where you were able to rise above the crowd a little bit. Church that you went to, where you were able to rise above the crowd a little bit. Perhaps at work, you worked for a large corporation or a small business in a small town. Maybe you were a small town politician, but there was a time when people noticed you.

Speaker 1: 3:16

And one of the sad things that I hear more and more these days and I experienced it myself is that people aren't listening as much I would call it toleration as opposed to listening. What's he talking about now? What's he saying? In all the technology and everything that's going on these days, the stories of the past are getting swallowed up, and those are our stories, my friends, and they're being forgotten because that's not the input that the younger generation is interested in and I'm not here to put down younger people. I don't want to do that. That's what happened to me when I was younger. The older generation in front of me was putting us down all the time. Your hair is too long, your music's too loud, you don't understand the world. They were right, I didn't understand the world. They were right, I didn't understand the world. But I understood what I needed to for me to get through the day back then. So the forgotten generation what about you? Do you feel that way? I can tell you now, at where I work, people listen to what I have to say, but they don't listen like they did 15 years ago, the job I was at. 15 years ago, people valued my opinion. Now again, I'll use the word tolerate. Ago, people valued my opinion. Now again, I'll use the word tolerate. I think they tolerate my opinion. They think because of my age, I can't possibly be aware of everything that's going on, and that's sad.

Speaker 1: 4:35

The other thing that I fear we might start calling ourselves is the invisible generation, and I'm going to tell you about that in just a moment. My friends, I invite you to join me at babyboomerorg. That's babyboomersingularorg. That's where you can find all things, baby Boomer. Whether you're looking for an article to read, you're looking for a book to listen to, you're looking for a game to play or a class to take online, or you're looking for a great podcast like Bill Monty's Guide for Getting Older, you can find that and more at babyboomerorg. Remember babyboomerorg. Remember babyboomerorg your one-stop shopping for being a young person who's lived a long time. I'll see you there. The Invisible Generation. So why do we say that?

Speaker 1: 5:31

I came across an article in the Wall Street Journal. It was written by Karen Kreider Yoder and she and her husband, stephen Kreider Yoder, have been retired since 2022. And they wrote an article kind of goes along these lines. I'm going to try to sum it up Not allowed to read word for word when you do a podcast, but they talk about a June afternoon. They were in the Rockies and they had been cycling in the mountains. They decided to splurge in a private room in a hotel and they checked in and they were walking by some young people who were outside the hotel and she admits that they probably were quite a sight to see two 60-somethings pushing a bicycle laden with a whole bunch of equipment like a pack mule.

Speaker 1: 6:16

But, she notes, except no one seemed to see us. They crossed the living room where there were like 20 people there who were all looking in their phones. No one looked up at them. They walked towards the kitchen where other people were in there. They had to kind of squeeze through. Excuse us, sorry to interrupt, Boy, that sure smells good. And the people turned a bit. They gave them some space, but not a word, not a how's it going, nor where'd you come from? Or, cool rig, no eye contact whatsoever. And Steve turned to Karen at that point and said we're invisible. Nobody even acknowledged our existence. We're too old to see.

Speaker 1: 7:08

There's more to the article, but I think that about says it all. I don't think we need more evidence that they felt like they didn't matter, and that might be strong. You know, expecting strangers to be friendly these days, maybe that is asking too much of the general American public. We're all suspicious, we're all COVID, weary, we're all self-absorbed, we're just all trying to get through our days. But we've lost something. We've lost contact. We're all buried in our phones. We're not sharing anything anymore. I'm not sure if people who grew up with technology, like my daughter, if they even are aware of what's been lost because they never had it to begin with. But I think it's something more if you're older, because that experience that she's talking about in that article I have felt that and I'm sure you have felt it too.

Speaker 1: 8:07

I spoke before about how you can be having a conversation and people just seem to tolerate your opinion. But the fact of the matter is, unless you're hanging out with people around your same age and it's a social event for the most part no one really gives a crap about your opinion. I don't mean to sound cynical and please someone prove me wrong, because I want to be wrong about this. I do not want to be right. I want someone to say Bill, you're just a cranky old guy, because that's not the way the world is, but you know why? I think I'm right.

Speaker 1: 8:39

I'm going to read you some quotes here. This is from a social media group that I'm aware of. Now, obviously, I'm not going to give you these people's names, but I'm going to tell you what the situation is, and this is talking in particular about housing problems for seniors, which is a huge problem, and that's a whole other show to do. I don't have time to go into it today, but one person writes I'm looking for affordable housing in Southern California. One public agency I spoke with said that they had a 13-year waiting list and they didn't give preferences to seniors. I told them my age I'm 70 years old but there was total silence on the other end of the phone. In reply to that, people wrote I'm 70. I've been living in my car a year now. That's what I can afford and I work three part-time jobs, but at least it's paid for. Hey, you know what? I can't be evicted.

Speaker 1: 9:34

Some people want to blame immigration. It's more than that. I don't think we can just lay it down in some simple. I know that's the political hot topic and I don't like to get into politics on this show unless we're talking about how we're all getting screwed on Social Security and that's not one political party, that's everybody screwing us. But I don't think that's what the problem is. But someone else wrote affordable housing in Southern California. It's an oxymoron. Good luck, though there were some good wishes. Don't give up. I trust you will find something soon. I live in the Midwest so I can't offer you assistance, but I wanted to encourage you. I'm 76 and live in senior housing. Someone else wrote I'm almost 70 and been on that list about 14 years, only recently got info on some studio apartments that could be available. And there's other people. They're writing, they're trying to help.

Speaker 1: 10:25

But what comes across here is that there's a real problem. Folks Seniors who work their entire lives, who paid into the system, who did everything they were supposed to do, who played by the rules, are facing homelessness. And that is not right in this country. It's not right for anybody. I'm not just saying for seniors, I'm saying for anybody. Listen, if you're working and you're a family of two, three, four and your income is $100,000 a year, you shouldn't be struggling to pay groceries and rent. Rent should not be as much as it is. But this is what happens when there's no control over these things, when no one wants to step on any toes. But for seniors, you see, if you're younger and you're not making enough money, well, you just haul on up and go get yourself another job. It'll pay better anyway. But let me tell you something, my friends, if you're 70, like that person on that social media page or maybe 66 or 67 or 75, that job that pays more probably doesn't exist unless you're running for president, and not many of us have the stomach to do that. So what are we going to do?

Speaker 1: 11:39

I did like the suggestion and a couple of them that I saw, and I thought about this several months ago. I said you know, the funny thing is, the solution to senior housing right now was given to us back in the 80s on a sitcom. It's called the Golden Girls, where four ladies who are seniors banded together to live in one house to pay all the bills so they could survive. And that might be what we need to do now. Instead of senior communities, senior homes where seniors get together, be they friends or relatives, whatever it might be, just in order to survive. Because I don't see solutions coming from state, federal or even local government. All that ever gets offered where I live is Section 8 housing. They offer it on the first day of each month. It opens up at about 10 o'clock, you have to do it online and by 1020, it's closed, and some of the areas that they offer that housing you would want to live in because you might not live very long.

Speaker 1: 12:37

So here's my question to you what do we do? We have to band together, we have to be the change that we want. We have to help ourselves, we have to help each other. We have to put a change that we want. We have to help ourselves, we have to help each other. We have to put a hand out to that senior who's struggling and all you people out there, all you spammers and scammers trying to take advantage of the shame on you. I hope they throw your ass in jail because people are hurting right now and with everything wrong in the world. If we can't just show a little kindness and help each other out, then what are we gonna do? This is what we have to do, folks. It's not that hard.

Speaker 1: 13:16

You can write to me at BillMonte04 at gmailcom. Billmonte04 at gmailcom it's in my show notes. Or you can join our Facebook group, bill Monte's Guide for Getting Older. We're talking about these things on there. It's a private group, so you have to write in and say you want to join and then I have to approve you because we want to keep out those scammers and spammers and people trying to steal your identity. But I hope you'll do that. I hope you'll hit that subscribe button. Whatever app you're listening on, it's free, but you'll get updated on when the next episode is.

Speaker 1: 13:51

I try to drop an episode about every two weeks. I have another podcast called Tales from South Florida, so it occupies my time, but I want to help people and I hope that you want to help people, and it's going to start here. If you think you don't have a friend, I'm here. This show is here. If you want to share your story, then you write to me at BillMonte04 at gmailcom or you can call me at 754-800-3170. That goes straight to voicemail. I won't answer, but if you tell me the story you want to tell, I'll see that it gets on the podcast, if that's what you want.

Speaker 1: 14:24

If you're looking for help, I'll try to put it out there, not to do anything but to try and help. That's our show for this week. My friends, again I remind you to take care of yourself. It can be a cold, cruel world, but it doesn't have to if we all spread a little kindness. And I'll end my shows, like I always do, to remind you. Be kind whenever possible, and you know what it's always possible. Take care of yourself. This is Bill Monty and I will see you on the next episode of Bill Monty's Guide for Getting Older.