Has the "Generation Gap" narrowed?

Don't know if this is useful or not - i'm 31 and my lifelong partner is 55 - I don't notice the age difference and didn't when I met him at 16 (he was then 40)

The only time it comes up is when we're talking about music - he got to see all of the bands I was too young to see (or when I wasn't even born yet) - like Led Zep, Thin Lizzy, The Beatles etc - which makes me really jealous and him really smug GRRRR

My mum and dad are in their early/mid 60's and there is a definite "generation gap" there:

My dad is a old-fashioned ex-pitman who was a teddy boy back in the day, loved Roy Orbison, came from the medallion man era, and whose favourite past times are now bowls, gardening and car boot sales - I love my dad - he's great, but he never got me when I started to go out and listen to rock/metal/blues/folk etc especially at any volume above zero.

My mum is a little more "modern" but still comes from the generation that used to play bingo at the local working mens club every weekend when we were kids with my dad playing pool/cards/dominoes in the bar - usually with me on his knee, she smokes like a chimney (again harking back to the day) but she still wears jeans and can keep up with my nephews now 3 and 9, she listens to Celine Dion and Tina Turner, Clannad and Enya so has kept up with the times although I remember the strains of Tammy Wynette, Dolly and Kenny Rodgers with a bit of Chris Rea thrown in as a kid - she too partakes in the past times of gardening, car boot sales and bowls (when she isn't looking after her grandkids while my sister's at work) - there's another difference - my mum stayed at home with us when we were kids - that's a luxury that faded out in later generations

I think that those born in the 50's rather than the 40's and beyond and who inevitably grew up in the 60's and 70's relate to the younger generation having experienced a much more liberal childhood themselves

vicky

"Stellar" a word used by Joe Bonamassa (also apt as a description of the man himself )

MsTia says uh no I was just a baby then.  And laughs out loud.  My kids think their Mom is cool and their Dad is a TYRANT.  I don't know if old as in fuddy-duddy kicks in.  I know they come to my shows when I play.  And they don't think my musical taste is too dated.

But they don't admit it, too readily.  So music has a lot to do with it.  So does attitudes about money.  and TV and Internet.

I have a problem personally with any attitude of entitlement.  With me; once you cross the line from being a child of God (the Universe) deserving to be happy over to be deserving of new car and allowed to eat because you're here, in my mind you become cannon fodder.

Freedom is not free.  Pull them britches up off your butt, you sissified twit.

tee hee
bjj

Music has to play a part in it. My parents listened to Nat King Cole, Frank Sinatra, Tony Bennett etc etc  and although I now I think some of that stuff is way cool there was a huge gap in our tastes. I listened to Free, Yes, Deep Purple, Cream.......my parents didn't 'get it'.

My daughter, who's just turned 20, goes to nightclubs where they play Thin Lizzy, Free, Jeff Beck, Atlantic and Motown etc. I get it

Maybe we've narrowed the gap because the music industry has died on it's arse over recent years? Maybe fashion hasn't really changed. Maybe we're just a bunch of tyrants (with you there Big Jeff) and we just won't go quietly...........

or maybe we just think we're cool but our kids think we're not but don't want to upset us?

ummmm to a point.

I'm 28 and I work in a university now.

When I see the majority of the student body, ages 18-22 - they look like little kids. I remember thinking I was a lot older or thinking the way I do now when I was that age. And they probably think I'm old.

- Nic from Detroit... posting on JB's Forum since 6-2-2006
Ask me about my handwound Great Lakes Guitar Pickups
Since 2010, Bonamassa fans have taken advantage of my JB friend discount = my cost + shipping.

I think our kids think that we ARE old.  My mom had all three us kids by the time she was 21 and I remember growing up thinking she was old.  Not because she looked it, but because she would discipline us by saying things like, "I am 30 years old . . .  I am 31 years old . . . I am 32 years old and so on.  Just by the context she would use that in, I felt that must have meant that she was old and knew what she was talking about.  My mom stayed home with us until she divorced my dad when I was 12.  She taught us the value of hard work and honesty.  She was strict and I love her for that.

Now that I'm an adult myself, she seems very young to me.  She will be 51 next month and you would not know it!  She is one of the most beautiful people I know.  Most people who meet her think she is in her 30s.  She became a nurse about 15 years ago and I think it keeps her young because she's passionate about what she does.

My dad is 55 and I remember also thinking that he was old when we were growing up.  He was probably too strict--but maybe that wasn't such a bad thing.  I think I turned out alright.  We worked very hard.  We chopped and hauled our own wood to heat a five story (yes five story) farm house.  We tended a one-acre garden, including tilling, picking rock, planting, weeding, picking and canning.  My sister and I were in charge of all of the laundry.  My dad went on yearly hunting trips to stock the chest freezer with meat like elk and carribou.  We basically "lived off of the land".  There was not much time for play.

My dad does seem old to me now.  He lost both of his parents about two years ago, and it seems to have taken so much out of him.  He is retiring this year and moving to Alaska. 

My parents didn't play with us or talk to us much growing up.  My kids seem to need that attention on a daily basis.  I feel that many kids of this generation will lack a lot of the skills needed to funtion as adults.  Will they know how to budget, cook, clean, balance a checkbook or even write a check?  Then again, will they have to with dining out and on-line banking?

I'm not sure how music plays a role in the generation gap, but I'm not saying it doesn't.  I know it has been said before, but the thing I love so much about this forum is the fact that people of all ages seem to connect with Joe's music.   I'm just waiting for my kids to get on board.

Struck a chord here

The generation gap definitely narrowing, at least in my family and our friends.
My daughters (22 & 25) are smarter and more mature than I was at their age. The internet and media coverage are a big part of that.
We can talk about pretty much anything and there's very little they do that I don't understand (OK, maybe the tattoo thing...I'm still not sure I get that - no offense to tattoo fans).

We had 75 people in our back yard a couple weeks ago for my older daughter's college graduation party. About a 50/50 mix of "kids" in their 20's and us and our friends in our 50's (with a few 70 year olds mixed in) and EVERYBODY had a great time. The age groups weren't polarized either, everyone mingled and got along great. I'm thinking back on it as a result of this topic and if there is a gap, it's pretty small.