Me and Generation Jones, we got a thing goin’ on...

This all began a couple days ago when I ran into Kuhn’s (my local market) to get a loaf of bread.  The checker rang me up, handed me my receipt and said “Have a good one.”  I said “Um, can I have a bag for my bread?”  She said “Do you really need one?  It’s only one item.” 

I said “As a matter of fact I need two.  I store my clothes and shoes in them, line my wastecan with ‘em, all sorts of things.”  She said “Okay Boomer” and I gave her the biggest scowl I could muster.

Before I go any further, I should add I know this checker—her name is Jessie, she’s 20 years old and sweet as can be.  ‘Ok Boomer’ may be a derogatory expression, but I knew she was just teasing me.

After we laughed, I said “I don’t feel like a Boomer you know… I don’t feel old enough.”  She said “My grandmother says the same thing.”  I asked how old her grandmother was, she said 73.  I said “I’m ten years younger!”  She said “Are you sure you’re one?” 

I said “Yes, baby boomers are anyone born from the mid-1940s to 1964.”  Jessie said that did sound pretty old.  Whatever!

When I got home, I went online to look up the whole age demographic thing and was surprised what I learned.  Apparently many experts agree the age range for Boomers is too wide, and people on the tail-end (I was born in ‘61) can’t always relate to the older ones in this category.

Do I remember pull tabs on soda & beer cans?  I sure do, I stepped on enough with my bare toes growing up.  Do I remember S&H Green Stamps?  Yes, we got those sticky things at the supermarket and gas station.  Do I remember duck n’ cover drills in grade school?  No, those were before my time!

In 1999, one such expert came up with a boomer subset called ‘Generation Jones’, for people born between the years 1955-1964.  When someone says the name Jane Fonda, do you immediately think of a) Hanoi Jane, Vietnam War protestor  b) the woman who started the exercise video craze or c) Ted Turner’s wife? 

If you said A, you’re a Boomer.  B, you’re a Generation Jones.  C, you’re Generation X (born between 1965-1980).  The Jane Fonda Rule is mostly for laughs, but does make sense. Still, the more I read about Generation Jones, the more I related to this category. 

Later that night, I was talking to my friend Diana on the phone and telling her what happened at the store and the “ok boomer” thing.  When Diana said she wasn’t fully comfortable being part of the boomer demographic, I said “listen to this” and told her about Generation Jones.

Diana said “What does the Jones stand for?”  I said I didn’t know.  She said “Well, I don’t think I want to be part of Generation Jones.”  I said “You don’t get a choice in the matter—you’re the same age as me and you’re one whether you like it or not.”

Diana just laughed at me.  Why do I bother! 

I did learn the name had to do with younger Boomers having a cultural upbringing similar to their older counterparts, and wanting the same level of affluence after reaching adulthood but being met with a recession and stagnant economy instead. 

We “late boomers” had to work harder at keeping up with the Joneses, so to speak. 

Makes sense to me.  All I know is, most of my friends are boomers or older.  And right now I am jonesing for a sandwich on this Mancini’s bread.