Former 1970s disco superstar turned trial lawyer/blawger, Dan Hull, got a keyboard-lashing from a reader for his vituperative challenge to Gen-Y sensibilities:

The boomer’s [sic] have systematically destroyed all that once made life bearable: marriage, traditional faith, the hope of financial security. In place of what used to be the societal superstructure, our generation has been force fed the consumer culture. We still feel empty. The money you pay is not worth it. When I pay off my loans (twenty years from now) you can kiss my ass.

And after you are dead, which unfortunately will take a while and cripple our generation financially, we can correct the gervious [sic] injuries that your generation inflicted on humanity. If the present election is any indication, boomer’s [sic] are incompetent leaders who’s [sic] malignant narcissism is only exceeded, at times, by their myopia. Take your second trophy wives, McMansions, and blinding self love with you when you shuffle off this mortal coil.

So much for the “better educated” claim, but what of the criticism of baby boomers?  Did we really screw the pooch?  Dan’s musical response (thankfully not the Bee Gees) may sail over the heads of Gen-Y, most of whom are still listening to music from boomer days since there hasn’t been any good music made in over 40 years.  As I have before, so too will I step into the breech to help again.

Dear Slacky,

You are correct that baby boomers have made mistakes.  Many of them, in fact, though I hesitate to take responsibility for George W. Bush, who was elected to office by everyone except the baby boomers.  As for trophy wives, McMansions and “blinding self love,” I’m only guilty of the last, but try to keep it private.  Were you peaking into your parents’ bedroom again?

On the other hand, we had a goal when we were younger, and full of that great energy that’s denied us when we finally know what to do with it.  We may have been misguided in our denial of human nature, refusing to see it as ugly and brutish, but at least we tried to improve the human condition.

Getting a tattoo and a pierced nipple doesn’t qualify as improving the human condition.  So you lose.

Sincerely,

Greenfield

But Dan isn’t the only one to be challenged lately.  I received an attempted smack as well, in reaction to my old post about The Lawyer Look.  More than a year after that piece was posted, I still get the occasional slacker trying to justify his foolish choices.  This one came in yesterday from Justin (with his rant sliced into paragraphs to compensate for his apparent lack of having a “return” “enter” key on his computer):

While I understand that everyone is entitled to their opinion, I must say that assuming that someone is dumb or foolish based on a tattoo or piercing is stereotypical and just what I would hope we would all be working against.

That being said, I have my bottom lip pierced and one earring in each ear. I also plan on getting “3/4 sleeve” tattoos. The only thing that is unsightly or unprofessional looking in professional dress is the lip rings which will come out upon graduation. I think the main thing to remember when talking about piercings and tattoos is that lumping everyone with them together is a little ridiculous. Having tattoos that are covered in the courtroom, or any professional place for that matter, is not indicative of someone being dumb. If anything, it is a mark of someone that took the responsible and sensible route in finding the proper balance between personal wants and professional goals.

I must say though, there are those out there who seem to beg for a life of minimum wage and constant scrutiny. It is a price they pay and if they are happy with the choice then you are foolish to waste your time judging them. I somehow doubt that the person you choose to display a picture of (which is by far the extreme end of the spectrum and a horrible misrepresentation of the average person with a tattoo or piercing) wishes to be a lawyer or in any professional career.

Perhaps you should use a more fitting example of the people you seem to despise so much or maybe you are just a bit jealous of the carefree life that their culture lives. While you say that them defending their decisions is just to cover up their regret for the poor decision they have seemingly made, one could point the same finger at you for spending your life as a lawyer. It is all a matter of perspective and therefor you should respect what others do with their lives and bodies as much as they should respect yours.

Justin confuses tolerance with respect.  It’s not his fault.  His parents likely tried to teach him to be tolerant of others, and he got confused.  It happens when children are small.  But if Justin is old enough to have his lip pierced (ewww), then he’s old enough to learn the difference.

We are tolerant, Justin.  We don’t hunt people who chose to mutilate themselves down to improve the species.  We just don’t respect you.  We hear your rationalization of childish vanity, and shake our heads because we’ve heard such foolishness before.  Even God isn’t buying.

Are we “just a bit jealous of the carefree life?”  You bet we are.  We had the best time during the summer of love, Woodstock and (in Dan Hull’s case) Studio 54.  But if we didn’t get down to work, little Justin would go hungry.  As boomers learned, children like to eat.  Every single day.  Sometimes multiple times a day.  And we need to go out and earn a living to pay for the food they eat.  That’s how you managed to grow up big and strong so that you could put a ring in your lip some day. 

Dan’s commenter castigates us for dubious taste in housing and spouses.  Good taste seems to defy generations.  Have you ever seen a split level or a leisure suit?  But there’s nothing that boomers have constructed that can’t be de-constructed.  Make a mistake?  Fix it.

Humankind has always made mistakes.  But the Slackeoisie will have an awfully hard time explaining theirs to their grandchildren when their cool, carefree tats sag down to their knees.  Our dubious choices were made with the best of intentions.  Yours?  Childish vanity.  You lose.  Now get a job.