What traditions have you not kept that your parents had?

As a GenX’er I had the final great and golden time of the idealistic American Dream construct… up until ‘88. Then the holes in the system rushed into view. It was when my father was let go from his job of 23 years due to a corporate buy out.

That sucked. But a lesson was learned quickly.

The lesson? The idea of going to work for a company, staying til 65 and then retiring with a pension into one’s golden years was a bit of bullshit.

Okay, a lot of bullshit.

Either way, my worldview changed a lot. But it wasn’t for naught. In my most formidable years, I learned from watching my Dad get up far before dawn to perform his daily ritual of getting up, grabbing his coffee and a cigarette or two, shower, put on his uniform and head out the door. Religiously.

The lesson: Loyalty, dependability, and unshakable work ethic and dedication were a noble cause. Even if it was a (unbeknownst at the time) false promise for the blue collar men that made that post WWII America great.

Until it didn’t.

However, Dad never complained after they dropped the hammer on him and many of his up to that point, lifelong coworkers and friends. They all just adapted and moved on. Two + decades later be damned.

Those observations planted the seeds in me that you witness in these musings everyday. And will continue to for the rest of my days. I can and will go deeper into all of this as time goes on as it’s a crucial component of my philosophy of every single one of us need to take the initiative to embrace the Spark inside of each of us.

That’s me again today as I continue my quest of forever staying free from that tradition and construct that had its good and bad points. But in the end those terms are determined by the uncovered truth of reality as it truly is.

Now, Go Play!

Jim 07/30/2025