Part of what makes life interesting is all the changes we experience as time goes by. Some people lament that younger and older folks really have a hard time understanding our generation. There is some reason for this. We are forged by the events of importance in our lives… and to understand someone, we must first put them in context. Boomers can tell you exactly where they were when they heard that President Kennedy was assassinated, older still will recall vividly when they first heard that President Roosevelt passed away. Today’s generation “flash bulb” memory is 911.
So to supplement what my Professor bride discussed in her blog ( about what incoming college freshman know from their lives), here is a few other things that happened in their birth year (1989):
Cuban troops leave Angola
Soviet troops leave Afghanistan
Los Angeles City Council bans sales of automatic weapons
Iranian leader urges Muslims to kill Salman Rushdie for his writings, puts $3 million dollar reward… however, Iranian leader dies within year
Time Warner merge
2 asteroids come close to earth (Asceleptious & a thousand foot chunk)
First free elections, new Soviet parliament goes against Russian Communists
Dilbert is first syndicated… life in a cubical is exposed!
Nintendo begins selling game boy in Japan
Borders start coming down… Hungary with Austria
South Africa’s last election under apartheid
Disney’s “Little Mermaid” comes to theaters
Famous deaths: Konrad Lorenz, Salvador Dali, Jim Backus, Irving Berlin, Secretariat,
A lot of good things have happened since 1989, but we have many new challenges and no generation has it ‘easy.’
Good Luck to the Class of 2011… the world belongs to you!
Roger Freberg
PS. In 1989, Laura and I had been married for 17 years with three young children ( 10, 7 and 5 years of age)
