Sometimes I Feel Like a Piece of Bologna

A Perspective on the Sandwich Generation

Mark Trost offers an interesting—and valid—point for Gen Sandwichers. A couple of his comments:

The middle ages of adulthood are the moments in our lives when it isn’t about us. It was about us while we were young. Our parents went without so that we didn’t have to do without. They sat on bleachers and folding chairs and in auditoriums while they watched as we participated. They offered us helping hands accompanied by claps and congratulations. And now it’s our turn to sit in waiting rooms and hospital rooms and bedsides while the situations are about them. And we must offer them helping hands of compassion, commiseration, and care.

And claims that we are busier in business than they were in their toils are absurd. Our generation isn’t the first to labor. Throughout all ages the soil was sown. The carcass was carried. The hoe was heaved. And yet the baby was fed and the dead were buried. It’s a sad commentary that we’ve blistered from movement and we’re now cautioned about basking in the sunshine.

A sandwich is an unfilling meal. A sandwich is about speed not substance. It’s a snack not sustenance. And a sandwich without bread is just a filling without foundation. We are building the foundation for a future generation. Our children are watching us as we tend for our responsibilities. Do we intend to offer them an example to emulate?

What are your thoughts?

Labels: Baby Boomers, sandwich generation