By Ahmet Abdulaziz…
Aging and getting old is the reality that no one can deny. We all start our lives, pass through it all, and then reach the end of the life span. This is the ground reality and all of us pass through this. But the situation differs from person to person, from generation to generation.
There have always been two generations at a time. One is the old generation and the other one is the young generation. Though this has been said and understood like this, what generation is that which falls in between these two extremes? I have never heard of a 
“middle generation”. The existence of a middle generation is a reality, but I wonder why nobody mentions it.
So we come across an important point, where we have to see who falls into which generation. Here again, those who are in the old generation – category 3, are the easiest to point out. Though in most of the cases those who fall in this category show resistance to being bracketed like that, but there are people who feel proud to be part of the old generation. But the biggest problem is that all those who have usually been considered as “middle aged”, consider themselves to be part of the young generation. Interestingly, the young people resist to include themselves in the young generation, and consider them as the “old folks, the old generation”.
For the middle aged people, I usually quote an example. The best example to understand the middle aged people is that of the students of middle schools. Finishing their primary school, they consider themselves as grown up. Whereas their seniors do not consider them as grown up. So when the students of this particular age group, go out to play with others, a group rejects them as being too old to play with them. Whereas the other group also do not accept them in the game, saying that they are not old enough to be included. So these students of first class of middle school usually find themselves lost.
This is also what happens to the middle aged people.
However I consider those born in the 50s, 60s ,70s and earlier as confirmed old generation. It is not only just because of their age. It is because they have seen what those born after those years did not see. I am happy to be a part of the old generation because I have seen perhaps the best of all times. We have witnessed perhaps the fastest development in the world. The young generation does not know what we had seen during the 60s or 50s.
At the same time, I am sure, most in my old age group, find it difficult to cope with the fast development in the world. For example, I still find it difficult to use the remote. Up to today I am not happy with it. Tuning the car radio or finding a particular channel or youtube on the Television has remained my biggest problem. I still consider the computer as an “older brother” of the typewriter. I still find myself unable to use most of the functions of mobile phones.
But I am happy that I have lived through both the old and new technology, which the new or young generation has not.
So who is lucky. I think the old generation is lucky. The young generation think they are lucky. But maybe those in the middle of the two are also lucky.
