When Will Those Boomers Ever Grow Up?

Some readers may vehemently disagree with Mike Males and his “Boomergeddon” conclusions (“The Boomer Buster,” by Shawn Hubler, Los Angeles Times Magazine, Jan. 22). The suggestion of this 50-year-old? Simply attend any Southern California public education graduation ceremony and observe the behavior of the majority of “grown-up” boomers. If most of the older parents and younger grandparents show up to the ceremony in beachwear from the day before—and can’t seem to control the urge to clap, whistle, yell, blow an air horn or simply talk their way through the whole thing until their kid walks to the platform—then it’s game, set and match to Mr. Males!

Bob Bennett

Costa Mesa

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Hubler says it all when she writes: “Some think it’s dumb to generalize about 75.8 million individuals.” I have never accepted being part of this phony fraternity. Someone born in 1946 is somehow supposed to have more in common with someone born in 1964 than with someone born in 1945? Please explain that. The whole boomer concept is just the confluence of two tiresome American obsessions: the need to categorize people (usually for marketing reasons) and the idea that bigger is better, or at least more interesting and significant.

Richard Harris

Los Angeles