Cultural Differences and Generation Gaps

I think the term "generation gap" was coined back when I was a young adult. It referred to the differing values that came between my generation (known as Baby Boomers) and that of our parents (called the Greatest Generation by Tom Brokaw). Because we had been raised in different circumstances than our parents, it seemed that we didn't understand each other...which is ridiculous, when you think about it. All our parents wanted for us was for us to have more and better than what they had (because they had come through the Depression and WWII, etc.) They worked hard and provided as best they could. My generation responded by rejecting their materialism. The flower children of the 60s and 70s did everything they could to protest the Vietnam War and live out the relative "freedom" of free love and mind-altering drugs. (I will state here that I, personally, have never used a single illegal substance.) But when "we" grew up, we became more materialistic than our parents ever were. Gone were the days of wives staying home to raise the children. They wanted careers in order to be able to afford their lifestyle. The credit card became the family bank. (I don't think my parents even owned one!) Bigger and better gets expensive, you know?

My son-in-law is from Russia. He is only 26 so wasn't really a part of the USSR thing--the enemy, in my youth. He came here with a dream of having the life that "spoiled American kids" have. I don't totally understand what kind of poverty he endured as a child, but I do know that he wants "more and better" than what he had. He had a plan and worked hard to make it work. Right now, Denis and my daughter, combined, make three times what I made after 40 years of teaching. And because he has worked so hard to make it happen, he values it. It wasn't given to him. Thus, he isn't appreciative when his stepchildren seem not to appreciate what he sees as hard work and sacrifice. It's a generation gap, of sorts. If he's wise, he'll comprehend that we don't come from the same belief foundations. Children raised by American standards don't understand any other reality unless they are exposed to it. It's not their fault, nor his. It's just different.

We tease Denis about having "special needs" because he is still learning about American ways, but we could learn a lot from him. It's not just a one-way road.