THE SILENT GENERATION

Words and Photo by F LoBuono

To beat the oppressive heat we've experienced this summer, I try to get out of the house as early as possible to complete my exercise routine. It's a combination of a lot of walking, some calisthenics, and work with resistance bands. It's certainly not the heavy training that I did as I young man, but it keeps a 71-year-old body in reasonably good health and shape. I usually head for the park at the head of The Esposito Trail in South Nyack. It’s a few blocks from my house, so I get in some of my walking first. There is also a small exercise area where I can then complete the rest of my workout – about 20 minutes’ worth.

Some might wonder, “why not just join a gym?” Well, I have been a gym member and may be again. But I like being outside in the elements, feeling the heat, hearing the birds, and seeing what others might be doing in the park at the same time. So, in a sense, I’m doing something for my body AND my mind.

This morning was mostly typical. The heat was making its presence known even at that early hour. But people were still in the park. Some were walking their dogs, others jogging. I noticed a middle-aged gentleman simply resting and observing from a nearby bench. A woman whom I have seen before was once again practicing her serve on the adjacent tennis courts. I had just finished a set of pushups and was resting before I did another set when I noticed a young couple walking together towards a picnic table near to where I was working out. They were kids really, maybe 15 or 16, a boy and a girl. Both were dressed like most of the teenagers I have seen today: dark, baggy clothes with overstuffed backpacks. Another thing that I took notice of was that even though they were walking together, they hardly noticed one another. Their faces were buried in their phones. There was no communication at all. They continued this way and sat at the picnic table.

I finished my workout (another 10-12 minutes) while also observing the kids. During that time, I never saw them exchange a single word. Not one. In fact, they never even looked up from their phones. Not once. When I left the park, they were in the exact same position.

Without judging them, I thought, “how sad?” This generation has SO many impressive communication tools at their fingertips but at the same time have lost the most basic and important one, i.e. the ability to communicate face to face with one another. The Internet gives us the ability to reach out to others in any corner of the globe. Cell phones connect us in ways that we barely dreamed of a generation ago. Yet, if we lose our ability to literally speak to one another, we will have lost something that makes us truly human.

Even though I generally find labels counterproductive, sometimes they serve a purpose by coalescing an idea around a particular era. Good examples of this are “The Greatest Generation” and “Baby Boomers.” Then of course, there’s Gen Z, X, and so forth. Well, I think that I may have come up with one for current: The Silent Generation. This is so because, despite the fact they have SO many tools to communicate with, they have lost the one that is the most essential.

This is not to say that this necessarily makes this generation “bad” or “lazy.” As a teacher for 11 years at Fordham University, I can attest to a plethora of talented, ambitious, resolute young people. But I am concerned about what they may be losing.

Sometimes people refer to “the good old times” with a warped sense of nostalgia. I say so because often upon further analysis, the good times weren’t so good. However, even with that said, it’s important to preserve some worthwhile traditions. Certainly, our ability to speak to one another, face to face, is one worth revising.