Having spent time reading blogs discovered on WordPress, I suspect most, if not the preponderance, of bloggers are much younger than me. Being that I am sixty-two, this is almost certainly true. Having said that, I am a geeky software tester who not only stays current in technology, but I also work with mostly young folks. I am not your typical sixty-two year old no-ass baggy pants.

Okay, so I might be a no-ass baggy pants, I am hot totally un-hip. I read a lot. My preferred opinion writers include Thomas Sowell, Victor Davis Hanson, Mollie Hemingway, Jonah Goldberg, Peggy Noonan, Erick Erickson, John Hayward, Ben Domenech, Dr. Helen, Glenn Reynolds, Bill Kristol, Katherine Timpf, and Camille Paglia. Not necessarily a “totally hip” crowd, but current nonetheless. A conservative group for the most part, but according to Huey, it’s Hip to be Square“. Now that I am old in age I find it curious that, in my mind at least, I don’t feel old.

In my life I have lived sixty-two years. Three in Europe (Germany), eight in the middle east (Saudi Arabia), and two in the far east (Thailand). During my early teen years, living in Germany with my family, I began picking up my mother’s books to read out of pure boredom, since there was no English speaking television and only Armed Forces Radio to listen to, though serials were great. Since that time I have been reading. Mostly I read fiction and prefer historically based novels. My most often read authors during my life include Harold Robbins, Wilbur Smith, James Clavell and Larry McMurtry. In my later years I read Ayn Rand, George Orwell, etc.

My values have remained consistent throughout most of my life and, given my preferred writers, it is not at all surprising that I find a fair amount of support for them. Also attributable to my age is a high degree of comfort with value based judgments with the younger generations. While I judge them, as we each do every day, I do not convict them of perceived wrongheaded thinking. After all, they are young, I am old, but was once young . I am very aware of the idealism of youth and the way things “ought to be”, in a utopian world. The world we actually live in has people who determine such things as children with down syndrome should be killed. Younger generations simply have not the life experience to plot a path forward for the rest of us.

They say, “the older you get, the smarter your parent get”. How true. Perspective is everything. The older I get, the more harden becomes my resolve that my judgment is fair and just.

My frustrations with millennials, GenX, Y and Z are many, though I will avoid boring you by listing them here. If you have read this far, you know them already.

Be patient with the younger crowd. Appreciate their idealism and energy. Allow them room to grow. One day, should you stick around and not alienate them, together you will look back and laugh, and cry, at their behavior. As I had the privilege to do with my parents. Mostly, love them. As you might have wanted love shown to you, at their age.

So sayeth Wint, the old guy over there at the keyboard.

Wint

P.S. Squid, should you ever get around to reading this, give an old man a break and tell him what’s going on in your life. Your opportunities to do so are dwindling down as each year passes.