The Lost Generation…talkin’ bout my generation
We were young boys and girls when the Viet-Nam war ended, we remember vaguely Iran’s Islamic revolution, then the Americans taken hostage by Iran. We remember there could have been peace in the Middle East, Egypt and Israel signed a peace treaty. Many domestic issues we vaguely remember. I remember supporting Teddy Kennedy just because he was Irish Catholic, even if I did not know what that meant, President Carter was seen as ineffective and weak. Although what he did in the Middle East was not weak, but to my simple mind as a 8,9, and10 year old, what did I know? My grandmother was not a republican, she voted down the line, if the person running was a democrat that's all she needed to know. Dad was the rent stabilization board chair, he generally took the side of the renters not the owners, we were just getting active in the Cub Scouts. Mom was Cubmaster and Dad was WEBELOS den leader. In 1978 I went to my first council activity, Campex. I do remember it being huge. It was in the spring and I had only my long sleeved Cub Scout uniform and I was hot as heck. I would never had said hell then.
1978: I was eight and joined Cub Scouts, my neighbor was our den leader, Mr. M. I went to Cub day Camp, I earned Bobcat, Wolf, and had to wait to get my Bear. It was restricted to 9 year old boys, and I did not like Arrow points so I never did earn any. Maybe it was just me being stubborn but I saw Arrow points as distracting and ugly. My new den leader would be another neighbor, Mrs. A. But back to Cub Day Camp, there are many things you can say about Amy but one thing I would give her credit is she knew how to run a Cub Day Camp. My week was Space week. We did arts and crafts, nature crafts, nature, sports, and other Cub friendly activities, we had a camp fire program and I received beads for my successes. I wish I could tell you I made friends for life but I do not remember anyone but Billy, he was from Old Bridge but from another pack. But I really do not remember anyone from then, my den chief was Jack, he was Amy’s son. But I could not tell you anything else about him.
I also was diagnosed, maybe a harsh way of putting it, with a learning disability, I remember seeing doctors, psychologists, and education specialists. Little did I know about any of this, little did I know about what the future would bring to me. We had a pool, Shane had a pool, Scott had a pool, and we took turns that summer in each other’s pools. Scott lived further away from me, it was about 3 blocks, but Shane lived across the street. Shane’s dad was a plumber, his parents always seemed to be away and Shane’s older sister had to watch us. Shane had a younger brother, Jason. AM radio was always on WABC, now an all talk radio station. We had transistor radios, we rode our bikes everywhere, the lake by the house was slowly losing business. It would be returned to nature and the beach was just a distant memory. It was an Idyllic adventure for us for us in this suburban NJ neighborhood. We would sometimes go with Mom to the train station and pick up dad. Dad would take the train from South Amboy to New York City, it was quite the sight to be hold, we would watch the locomotives be switched from electric to diesel power. The GG1 of the Pennsylvania Railroad, later Penn Central, then Conrail, and the Department of Transportation of the State of New Jersey, now NJ Transit.
We played with our cars and often leaving them in each others houses. Pools, weekend adventures. This could and often did mean trips to Englishtown Auction, Collingswood Park Flea Market, often to the magazine store where Dad and I would look endlessly at the railroad, model railroading, and Sea Classics magazines. Later this flea market would experience a fire, so did Englishtown. We often went to Englishtown for produce and meats. We went to the supermarket too.
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1979: Nine years old in Feburary, my first time being in a school that was not in the neighborhood. Cub Scouts I was working on Bear, finally got my new Bear book. I was excited to be doing something new. Dad was still WEBELOES leader but now was also an assistant scoutmaster, a year later he would be Scoutmaster. I remember a baseball player, Thurman Munson died and many friends were saddened, I think Dad and I went to a baseball game to see the Mets play. Neither of us were big fans of baseball, I was in name only a fan of football, younger me liked the Dolphins and the preteen liked the Steelers. My first football game was at Giant’s Stadium to see Rutgers play some team I do not remember the name of nor do I care. My interest in sports waned, I did like playing soccer and basketball. Although not very well. Dad bought a book about soccer but I do not think he read it, I think he tried to but just didn't get it.
1979: RIP Michael: Death has been a faithful visitor to me, I remember back in 1977 when my great aunt died. I remember it well because she was late, imagine being late to your own funeral, but typical of the family trait for being late for everything.
Michael was born with several disabilities and impairments. He also was born with physical deformities. I never understood it, he was my friend, often I think about this off friendship. Mom told me about an operation Michael would be getting in December. He would be going to Pittsburgh PA to get his face fixed. I did not see him as others did, maybe it was my parents raising me with the idea you did not judge on appearances. Michael’s Dad was a radio operator for ATT on a cable ship. It sounds wonderful but when you see the reality its not. So Mom continued telling me about why he needed this operation. She also told me that it had a great deal of risk, 90% failure rate, it could and did eventually did kill him. It is very complicated and Michael did not survive. I was left staring at him in his casket, praying silently, asking GOD to make him whole. It was the first death of a child I knew and it would not be the last time the Reaper would pay a visit to friends.
1980: The year of becoming double digits, the end of the year saw the death of John Lennon, I was not a fan of his, I preferred Paul or George. I went into WEBELOES, I had Dad as my den leader, he was now doing both Scoutmaster and den leader. We merged Cub Scout packs, and now were Pack 36, I was later moved to Mr. B who lived across the highway from home. I think Dad just did not want to deal with me and the troubles I had with one boy, Tom, I never did like him and I liked him less and less as I got older. In a twisted sense of timing he passed away in the last 2 years (2022–2024???) I honestly do not remember. But Mom asked me to write a poem for his Mother, she lost her youngest son, her husband, and now her eldest son in the span of a year. I just could not find the words, much in the same way I hunted for words to say about Mom’s frenemy. I can make magic with my words but if I do not have the interest I tend not to write about it. I felt nothing for either of them. I said to her when she told me Tom died, how could they tell…he was not someone I shed a tear over. Maybe I should let go of any bad feelings, I did, I just did not care. As someone once said to me and I believe it, Hate and Love are two coin sides, indifference is their opposite. As I think about it, yeah indifference is their opposite.
I started this essay as a reflection of being lost and the construct of a lost generation. I am not sure you would see those of us who grew up in the 70s and 80s were lost but we began to think differently about our world. Ronald Reagan would be the president we all put on a pedestal. He was the one who gave our country a shot in the arm. While I can see what he did both good and bad I can honestly say I am still not sure. At one time I was so certain he was what we needed. Maybe so, maybe not. honestly I am still asking questions. It is not easy to go against peers who think he was the best president after all he did all this, but still something in me is itching for an answer that can help me make sense of it all.
