Boomers have 5 times the rate of infection of Hepatitis C than the rest of the population (1). They die in disproportionate numbers from liver cancer and cirrhosis of the liver. Why you ask? The CDC is not sure, but proposes one reason may be the use of shared needles when this population experimented with drugs. Whatever the reason, the epidemic is real and lethal.
I am not a boomer. I preceded them by at least 5 years, never used drugs, alcohol excepted, and probably don’t have Hep C. I do get tired, though, of being assumed to be one. Boomer I mean. Ex hippie. Free love generation. Woodstock. The fact is I missed it. Too old by the time they started their “Flower Power” crap. I was ensconced in graduate school, busting my butt to get a master’s degree, fishing and walking miles on weekends in the Everglades. Flower power my ass, I thought, as I veered around snakes and scratched chiggers. “Tune in. Turn on. Drop out.” said Leary. Drop acid more like it and then self-destruct. My highs came from catching big fish in the Keys, and finding new orchids in the ‘glades, and the occasional evening drinking with friends.
My highs now come from the love of my life, the company of friends, and the occasional brew. So I repeat: I am not a boomer. I am not at risk for Hep C. I am at risk though. As we all are. They tuned in and turned on, and now we, the rest of the world, have to pay the freight. Next time one of them shows up in the ER, just give them the “peace” sign, give them a flower, and tell them to stick it where the sun don’t shine. Flower Power my ass.
Image: http://aweirdthing.files.wordpress.com/2011/02/2.jpg
Perhaps they remember you from the feathered-ponytail days.
ReplyDeleteYou want to hear something bizarre? I get the same thing from my students: a good number of them think that, because I'm *old* and demonstrably more liberal than most people they know, I must be a hippie. Perhaps a reformed one, better acquainted with personal hygiene than the commune-folk who still wander about the hills here in S OR/ N CA, but a hippie nonetheless.
In response, I point them, and their smartphones, to two resources: the wikipedia page on "Summer of Love" and Susan Werner's poem/song "Born a Little Late."