Babies, Baptism, Boomers & Business

I recently returned from a trip where people converged from all over for the Baptism of my latest great-nephew (I have 3), Joseph Andrew.  He’s my oldest brother’s 3rd grandson and this was the first I’d met him.  Of course, I’m partial and think he’s the cutest baby around.  Since the family is spread all over the country, folks came by cars, buses and planes to celebrate the Sacrament welcoming Joseph into our church community.  Because of the distance, it was a weekend long affair, with lots of time for reunions with old and new friends and relatives and a time to talk about everyone’s life and circumstances.

We had many generations represented, with folks ranging in age from about 66 to 6 months.  But I’d say the majority of us were Baby Boomers.  We went to a Sports Bar to watch another nephew’s football team unfortunately lose the game, but it was a great time for socializing and catching up.  The party after the Baptism was packed with people I’d spent so much time with in years past, but because I’d moved around had not seen in a long time.  The conversation often and easily sequeyed into discussions about the economy, and the rooms were full of older Boomers still working after multiple heart attacks, with severe diabetic complications, some job losses, fears for younger generations and concerns for the future.  One word never mentioned all weekend, not even once while I was around, was “retirement.”  Sure some Gen X-ers were there, a smattering of Gen-Y and a representative of the Millenials, but the weekend was packed with Boomers.

Where were discussions of retirement, plans to fish or travel or golf?  It was not to be heard.  No one was complaining, that is not my family’s style, but one would think that among the family and friends gathered over a 3 day period, sharing meals and small talk, someone in the Boomer generation (especially the older sector of it) would be discussing plans for their relaxing “golden years.”  Not a whisper.

The only mention of not working came about in discussing whose jobs were “safe” (for the moment) and who had been laid off.  Boomers generally feared for their 30-something children’s security as they raise their young families in an economy of peril.  Discussions of cutbacks avoided with a worried look about avoiding the “next wave” could be seen as a passing shadow on faces in the midst of merriment.  Pushed away, for the moment, by the celebration of new life and anticipation of the next football game.

In a serious conversation with an older relative,  I asked his thoughts on the future and what he envisioned as the younger generations’ path to earning money and providing for their families.  What would we be leaving Joey?  Without skipping a beat, he responded that the only answer was entrepreneurship, a return to the individual initiative, to self-reliance.  To find a legal and ethical way to earn money and to pursue it with a passion and commitment.

That didn’t surprise me, as one who came to that realization some years ago.  If anything, it was a confirmation from a respected older Boomer that I was not alone in my thinking, even within my own family.  As I watched the Boomers who are older and in poor health trudge along doing everything to maintain jobs at a time when their bodies are screaming “STOP,” I witnessed first hand what I have been saying for some time.

The time to return to entrepreneurship is here – for all generations.  Boomers especially must jump in, learn what they do not know about technology, then apply all those years of business expertise and experience to developing businesses that will allow them to earn income without dragging themselves to the finish line with bodies that can no longer withstand the rigors of the quickly becoming extinct version of the rat race.  Younger generations cannot depend on ducking the layoffs forever.  There has to be Plan B and it is going to have to be a return to that old American ingenuity and independence.