Spilling
BOOMER - Doug Turnbull
With discussions about generation gap at
the forefront of most conversations, we
thought it was time we got the inside story
on the pros and cons of each generation.
What activities did your childhood
consist of?
GEN X - Alex Smith
DOUG: We didn’t have TV in our house until
I was 12. And like today, most of it wasn’t
worth watching. There were no pubs or
clubs, and parties were held in family
homes. If you asked a young lady out, you
usually picked her up at her home and spent
an uncomfortable 10 minutes being subtly,
and sometimes not so subtly, threatened by
her father. There were certainly no drugs
in the community, although they started to
appear in about 1968, but that was only for
the adventurous ones. There was very little
crime and a very small Police presence.
ALEX: I spent my days bike riding and tree
climbing. My brother and I would hang
around with the neighbour’s kids, and go to
the park around the corner from us. I’d also
spend a lot of time reading - I loved science
and fantasy fiction as a kid.
GEN Y - Kate Dunne
KATE: I grew up on a farm in Babinda so
we were never really indoors. We spent our
days walking to the Boulders and creeks
near our houses and riding motorbikes
through the paddocks. Also hanging out at
the local cafe “Munchies” for hours on end
was always popular haha.
What were the major social issues you had
to deal with in your youth?
DOUG: The Vietnam War. It caused a very
sharp divide in public opinion. It’s hard for
people today to understand the concerns we
had about a nuclear holocaust. During the
Cuban Missile Crisis, we were expecting a
nuclear war on a daily basis. Society also
had a growing awareness that women were
subject to discrimination in the workforce.
From a very early age I remember being
very puzzled by the fact that a woman could
do the same job as a man, but be paid about
20% less in wages.
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ALEX: I grew up in the UK in the 80’s Thatcher’s era. It was the time of the
Miner’s Strikes, and privatisation, and the
Poll Tax Riots in London. Though I was
young and really not interested (Hey! I was
16 - life was about my mates, trying to be
cool) I didn’t really pay much attention
to social issues, apart from watching the
Berlin Wall come down. I was aware of what
a momentous event that was.
KATE: I definitely think global warming
and climate change is a huge issue. A
more conscious effort needs to be made by
everyone to minimise pollution to create a
safer planet for us and future generations.
What is your favourite thing about your
generation?
DOUG: I therefore grew up in a different
social climate from today. Looking back,
it was a very relaxed and safe. In that
respect, I feel a bit sorry for young people
today. I don’t think they will ever really
know what it was like to live in that sort
of a well-behaved, supportive and safe
environment.
ALEX: That I got to experience freedom
as a kid. I very much feel that I sit on the
fence between the no computer era, a
much simpler, freer time, based around
imagination and friendships, and the new
Modern Era of Internet, Social Media and
24 hr News Cycles. I feel that I have a good
grasp of the world, and how people saw it
in my Parents and Grandparents day, but
that I’m able to turn the Modern world to my
advantage through use of technology.
KATE: The opportunities that exist, being
able to work for myself as my own boss
is a lot easier and more encouraged then
it would have been for