‘When I hit 70…’ had become his favourite subject. Death! Etc. It was a real shock for him. Mortality! Who knew? Then he got over the shock. Then he was heading for 80. Heading for… over 80. A new shock. Turning 80 wouldn’t have the cultural heft his turning 70 had. We were teenagers in the fabulous 1960s, he thought. In our 60s, we were boomers rampant. The ageist sniping – ‘Hey boomer’ – seemed merely amusing. When we hit 70, we made sure everyone knew about it. But a boomer turning 80, he thought, it’s like a tree falling but no one hears it. Over 80? Who cares? The boomer boom is gone. About time, they say? Well, fuck them, he thought. But he knew they were right.
Diary of an old boomer 