Boomers, part 1

A few years ago, I helped my elderly father locate an appropriate assisted care facility for my mother. While the places we considered varied in their degree of pleasantness, there was one thing they had in common: all of them were relatively quiet. You might hear a television in the communal lounge or someone playing the piano in the lobby, and people would be talking, but that was it.

Let's face it ... these Depression-era kids were into their adulthood before TVs became widely available. As to music, they were limited to either vinyl phonograph records played on a large "hi-fi" that was essentially a piece of furniture, or else playing actual musical instruments. Rather than relying on "canned" entertainment, they made their own, and they didn't expect instant gratification in everything. Growing up during a time when the provenance of their next meal was often in doubt, their main priority in life was not entertaining themselves. This was not what you'd call a generation of partiers.

Fast forward to the year 2020, when the residents will all be in the post-WWII generation. Walk down the hall in any assisted living community (or whatever they're calling them at that time), and chances are good you'll make your way through a cacophony of rock music blasting from every room. Probably the same songs we listened to in the '60s and '70s.