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We are special

Time defines us by our history. Today I want to remember the courage of all those who were born between 1952 and 1979We are actors in something our parents could never dream of: we were unique witnesses, the first, a profound shift in the technologies that gave rise to modern life. We saw how the house our parents bought is now worth 20 or 30 times more.

Are the latest generation who played marbles, dodgeball, hide-and-seek, spring, airplane, “I love you,” “Stop” in the street and during school breaks… But also, went the first generation who played video games, with that PAC-MAN and Ataris. We were also the last to listen to soap operas and programs on our grandparents' radio, and we enjoyed picnics where food was served on a tablecloth in the grass. We carry these experiences in our hearts.

We were the last to listen to music on vinyl records—those small 45 RPM ones and the big 33 RPM LPs. We begin to record our own music on cassettes and we watched, for the first time, movies on video cassettes Beta and then VHSWe are the proud pioneers of the Walkman and CDs.

They labeled us as “Generation X”, a term that sounds derogatory. Someone, with little respect for the past, decided we were worthless… but worthless compared to what? I still don't understand that title or its pejorative tone.

We lived in the golden age of television: the first color cartoons, series like Saved by the Bell (with Screech) or Beverly Hills 90210 (the best at the time... watch it now and tell me). We cried with Toy World, Heidi, Grandpa and I, and we despaired if we didn't get to see The Partridge Family, Meteor, Astroboy, The Great Chaparral, Lost in Space, The Love Cruise, Chespirito, The Well-Bred Maid, Crazy Salad, Run, GC, run, Uncle Gamboín…Bedtime was set by her The Telerín FamilyWhat memories!

We learned about terrorism suddenly with the fall of the Twin Towers on September 11, but as children we saw global justice when the Berlin Wall fell. We adapted to the computers our parents never had the opportunity to use. And, unlike children today, never We saw those who did not know how to use them as “desperate retards.”

We saw the miracles of the first handheld calculators, PCs with enormous picture-tube screens, and the first cell phones—bricks in size and weight. We believed the Internet would be the beginning of a free world…

We are the generation of Cachirulo, Ultraman, Top Cat, GI Joe, The Flintstones, The Monster Family, Tom and Jerry, The Addams Family, The Beverly Hills, Gilligan's Island, The Main Runner, My Bear and I, Combat, Bonanza, The Pink Panther, The Jetsons, Woody Woodpecker, Candy Candy, Sandy Bell…

We grew up listening to The Beatles, Rolling Stones, Creedence, The Who, Led Zeppelin, Carpenters, Jackson Five, Guns N' Roses; and in Spanish, Soda Stereo, Mecano, Flans, Hombres G, and Locomía (with their fans). In grupera music, we heard Los Bukis (when Marco Antonio Solís was a humble man), Los Temerarios, and the eternal Tigres del Norte.

We were the last generation to run errands on bikes, to use a checkered bag to earn a few coins... Some of us even picked up tortillas or bread from the floor and placed them on the table with remorse. No child would do that today for fear of bacteria!

This message is for those who were born between 1960 and 1979I don't know how we survived! We traveled in cars without seatbelts, babies without special seats, and we survived crashes without airbags. We endured 10-12 hour journeys without stopping every hour. There were no locking doors, no childproof medicine bottles.

We rode bikes without helmets or knee pads. The swings were metal, the slides had rusty spikes. There were no cell phones; we carried books, notebooks, and lunches in leather backpacks without wheels. How many times did they break and we picked everything up from the floor!

We ate gooseberries, sponge cakes, motitas, and drank Boing, but we weren't obese. We shared bottles and only caught lice (which were cured with hot vinegar). We prayed for chickenpox so we could have a "vacation" at home.

We didn't have PlayStations, 999 channels, flat screens, MP3 players, or internet, but we had fun with water balloons, street soccer, or playing tag. We flirted by playing spin the bottle or truth or dare, not in dangerous chat rooms. We didn't need Facebook to exist: a whistle was enough to rally the whole block.

They called us "the blond one," "the china girl," "the short one," but we were all part of the same group. We took responsibility for our actions, not evading them like we do today. We had freedom, failures, successes, and responsibility.

Today we are the mature generation that sustains this society. That's why I invite you to reclaim our value in our three-day retreatsWe remain productive, active, and useful to our families and businesses.

From Europe, I send you a hug.
Dr. Roch