What Pastimes Are Fading/Failing With Aging Boomers?

[scrabbler1]

OMG, square dancing, I remember the scene form The Odd Couple when Oscar Madison made up the lyrics , it was hysterical. im looking for the clip. UPDATE hahahaha, here it is im dying with laughter.http://www.oddcouple.info/sounds/squaredance.wav

You and pb4uski beat me to it. As someone who has been square dancing off and on for the last 40 years, I have seen the steep decline in the activity. Back in the 1970s and 1980s, the peak years for square dancing, I danced at many local clubs here on Long Island and in the general NYC area. I also danced on some of my California vacation trips in the 1980s. We had well-attended beginner clubs and regular dance clubs nearly every night of the week back then. There was a dress code, too. There were stores which sold square dance attire.

I stopped dancing in 1988 (remember how there was a huge square dance exhibition during the 1988 Winter Olympics in Calgary?) before returning in 2001 when I began working part-time instead of FT and had the time and energy to do it at night. I was stunned at how much it had declined in the 13 years I was away. And in the last 16 years I have danced since my return it has continued to decline with clubs folding due to low attendance (people move away, become physically unable to dance, or die), and callers retiring. My caller, the famous Lee Kopman, is in his mid-80s but is thankfully in pretty alth. At 54, I am the third youngest dancer although our youngest dancer, a man who was nearly 49, unexpectedly died last month.

It is very tough to get younger people to commit to taking beginner classes so they can replace the really older folks when they can't dance any more. I wonder how much longer our small, shrinking clubs can last.

 

[FIREd]

writing letters has declined

+1. I am a youngish Gen-Xer and I started handwriting letters again a couple of years ago. It is so hard to find people who can be bothered to respond in kind (even boomers). Many people still seem to appreciate receiving a handwritten letter though! Ironically, the internet makes it easier than ever to connect with other letter writing enthusiasts. I now write a half dozen letters a month. This is cheap entertainment. And I am thrilled when I get a letter in the mail.

 

[Koolau]

Movies, already touched upon here: Most current movies are, in my opinion, overpriced and they under deliver. Going to one is a hassle and viewers sit around and talk or text. I'll wait until it's on TV and then probably not watch it anyway.

Star power isn't what it used to be and, at least in my case, I have a longer list of stars I don't want to see than those that I do.

As usual, YMMV.

 

[Amethyst]

Theater (except Hamilton, I guess!) I'm 60 and I'm usually the youngest person in the theater, unless it's something aimed at kids. The audiences are so old, I'm one of the few women who still bother coloring their hair.

Also, in the 1980's and 90's we used to love dressing up for the theater, and so did most everybody else in the audience. Now, the audiences dress like they're going to the box store. Perhaps it is a side effect of being in that age group - "Nobody looks at me anyway, so I may as well be comfortable." Again, the exception is if it's a kids' musical - the little girls are always dressed up.

 

[Midpack]

Greeting cards? We used to have several Hallmark stores around us, the last one is liquidating their inventory right now. Where cards used to be their primary product, I've noticed they sell more and more overpriced knickknack-junk than cards these days.

For the few (very old) people I know who still [-]insist on[/-] enjoy getting snail mail cards, we'll have to a) drive a long way, b) make do with the crappy cards at Target/Walgreens, or c) print our own.

It's probably just me, but it's seemed harder and harder to find a card I liked over the years. Too many with trivial or suggestive sentiments for my taste (and get off my lawn?).

 

[txtig]

Seeing as how LSU lost tonight maybe you will get out of having to find cable hook up! Florida sweeps?



I'm an Oregon State Beaver fan. I'm not over your Tigers beating us 2 in a row.







I love college baseball.

You could be right, but I hope not. LSU's two best pitchers are set to pitch games 2 and 3. They will have to do it the hard way again, just as they did with Oregon State.

I suggest you start rooting for my Tigers now. Having lost to the eventual National Champion might take some of the sting out of your loss (as compared to losing to a team that got swept by its next opponent). Last year, LSU was eliminated by Coastal Carolina in the Super Regionals. That one was a shocker. But, Coastal Carolina ended up shocking everyone else and won the College World Series. LSU's loss didn't seem as bad after that.

Like you, I love college baseball.

 

[exnavynuke]

I am seeing the decline in motorcycling , DW and I both have bikes but seldom ride . Even when we do you don't see the people like we used to . We belong to the worlds largest riders club ( world wide ) and here in Houston we probably only get maybe 15 riders to show up on a special event . You go back 10 years we would over 100 riders.

What are people doing anymore, is it just the available cash is not there or is it time ??

Riding here seems to be doing quite well. Any given place hosting a bike night is likely to get 30+ bikes showing up on a Thursday night. Rides through the North Georgia mountains get 100+ riders often. I avoid those personally as I'm not a big "group ride" fan, but they are still quite popular around here.

I also think that it was more common 20 years ago for companies to fund golf/country club memberships for their executives. Not as common any more for various reasons.

Pretty much everyone I know with a membership is either a member due to location (covered by the HOA or relatively cheap due to being in the HOA already) or paid for by their company. I looked into memberships for the courses I liked or considered joining around here but the prices were ridiculous. I'd have to play golf 5x/week for 6+ month of the year for the membership to be as cheap as paying to play as a non-member. The fact that they don't have any membership aimed at singles plays into that a lot I imagine, but even when I was a kid going to play at the club with my dad (company paid for his membership back then) we'd only go an average of once a week.

With prices like that, I'd rather pay non-member fees and play whatever public course I feel like on any given day instead of locking my money into one course. As memberships continue to decline, I imagine clubs will continue to find new incentives to bring in new members... maybe including making it cost-effective for people like me someday.

Theater (except Hamilton, I guess!) I'm 60 and I'm usually the youngest person in the theater, unless it's something aimed at kids. The audiences are so old, I'm one of the few women who still bother coloring their hair.

Also, in the 1980's and 90's we used to love dressing up for the theater, and so did most everybody else in the audience. Now, the audiences dress like they're going to the box store. Perhaps it is a side effect of being in that age group - "Nobody looks at me anyway, so I may as well be comfortable." Again, the exception is if it's a kids' musical - the little girls are always dressed up.

When I went to see the Phantom earlier this year with my parents I strongly suggested my dad to get changed since he was about to go in shorts and a t-shirt. I was surprised to see the number of people in jeans while we were there. I remember when going to a show meant wearing a suit for men and a nice dress for women...

 

[Scuba]

Greeting cards? We used to have several Hallmark stores around us, the last one is liquidating their inventory right now. Where cards used to be their primary product, I've noticed they sell more and more overpriced knickknack-junk than cards these days.

For the few (very old) people I know who still [-]insist on[/-] enjoy getting snail mail cards, we'll have to a) drive a long way, b) make do with the crappy cards at Target/Walgreens, or c) print our own.

It's probably just me, but it's seemed harder and harder to find a card I liked over the years. Too many with trivial or suggestive sentiments for my taste (and get off my lawn?).

Yes, most Hallmark stores have closed but some stores do still sell Hallmark cards. In So CA, Target has a great card selection. CVS, Rite-Aid and Walgreens also have some nice cards. I still send "snail mail" cards for birthdays, Mother's and Father's Day, get well, and just "thinking of you" cards. I appreciate when someone takes the time to find a card for me and mail it, vs just an e-card or text.

One thing I don't do is send Christmas cards. For local friends, we usually see them and celebrate the holidays, and for people living far away that we're close to, we call them.

 

[Danmar]

Bocce and lawn bowling. Canasta and dozens of other card games. Monopoly.

I think the growth of cottages equipped with TV, Internet and other pastimes has killed many of these.

Bocce is the official sport at our lake house.

 

[Danmar]

Live attendance at professional sports in the U.S. are declining. The cost and hassles of getting to/from stadiums are getting prohibitive to attend for the average younger person. I took some family and friends to an NFL game this past winter, the ticket cost alone was close to $800, add in parking and food and you are at $1000 for a single game. Then there is dealing the traffic and crowds getting to and from the stadium.

With the increase of live streaming and TV that practically make you feel as if you are at the game, the attendance decline may continue.

Agree. We avoid live sporting and concert events like the plague. Certainly not worth the hassle. The cost seems way out of whack too.

 

[Amethyst]

As for cards, there does seem to be a generational divide. I used to love sending and receiving carefully-chosen cards. The younger generation sends .gifs. [that's not a typo for 'gifts']

A while ago, a FB friend in her early 60's posted wistfully that she wished somebody would send her a card just for no reason. So I dug a beautiful no-occasion card out of my stash and sent it to her. She posted on FB that my gesture made her day!

 

[gerntz]

I think bridge, the card game, may go the way of the dodo. I'm 48 and learning the game now, but I don't know anyone younger than me who plays.

Our duplicate club is holding its own on membership, but you're right, attracting younger players is a chore. But it is a game/mental exercise that you never stop learning new things about and trying to improve at. I'm involved in our supervised play/instruction for new players as well as running our novice game. I'd bet a local duplicate club could help you also. The great thing about duplicate is that whether you get good/bad cards doesn't matter as everyone plays the same hands/boards.

As for younger players, we have about 10 of 100 members under 50, though we have a 17 yr old who's a whiz - ranked about 17th in ACBL Master Points for under 21's & has been a director for 2 years already.

Three games a week keep the brain moving.

 

[John Galt III]

Happy hours at bars. I haven't seen a real one for about 10 years. Used to be a happy hour meant half price drafts. Now happy hour means $1 off the already gouge-priced $6 pint of macrobrew. And get off my ******* lawn.

 

[Music Lover]

Whatever happened to the big heavy weight fights? I do not hear or see anything about that at all these days. My Dad told me he saw Muhammed Ali fight Joe Frazier. Nowadays there is nothing going on that I can see for heavy weight boxing. What happened?

UFC has surpassed/replaced boxing.

 

[Danmar]

So after reading this thread, which was quite interesting, I think we can conclude that "things change over time". Big question is "is the change accelerating?" Seems obvious that it is but why? Probably demographics (baby boomers aging) and technology? Any other theories?

 

[Music Lover]

Golf is in a serious decline around here. 15-20 years ago you would have to book a tee time days in advance, now we rarely book as the courses are empty and we just walk on. The courses are trying to entice people by offering coupons (buy 1 get 1 free) and still no one shows up.

Yesterday we played a nice course for $25 each with a shared cart. It was half empty. Last week we walked for $17 each (buy 1 get 1 free, $34 green fee).

And, it's definitely age related. You rarely see people under 40 on the course any more.

 

[exnavynuke]

UFC has surpassed/replaced boxing.

Remember when people could watch boxing on TV without having to pay $50 to watch the match?...

 

[athena53]

One thing I don't do is send Christmas cards. For local friends, we usually see them and celebrate the holidays, and for people living far away that we're close to, we call them.

I still send snail-mail cards for birthdays and at Christmas, always with a hand-written letter and sometimes with a page of pictures. I started the Christmas card tradition the first year I was out of college and they go only to friends and family who aren't within driving distance- maybe 25 or so cards. Every once in awhile someone will tell me how much they look forward to getting my Christmas card every year. I enjoy doing them- such a nice antidote to all the chaos of gift-shopping that most people do.

I agree, though, that it's a dying practice.

 

[kcowan]

True enough, but try to tell that to a bicyclist. A while back these people at least used bells or said "passing right". Now they just silently fly by at 15-20 mph. Several of my friends have been seriously injured by cyclist creeps hitting them from behind. I think bicyclist belong on roadways, not trying to kill innocent seniors on pathways.

Ha

We have many dedicated bike lanes and pedestrians are regularly injured walking or standing in them.

 

[John Galt III]

Theater (except Hamilton, I guess!) I'm 60 and I'm usually the youngest person in the theater, unless it's something aimed at kids. The audiences are so old, I'm one of the few women who still bother coloring their hair.

Also, in the 1980's and 90's we used to love dressing up for the theater, and so did most everybody else in the audience. Now, the audiences dress like they're going to the box store. Perhaps it is a side effect of being in that age group - "Nobody looks at me anyway, so I may as well be comfortable." ...

How about Opera? My guess is that with huge prices for opera, the middle class is falling away from it though the 1 percenters will stay. My own thing is female classically trained voice, as in soprano, mezzo-soprano. Occasionally a local college will have a free student recital and it's almost always a great time for me. Lieder by Schumann, Faure, Brahms, etc. Just the vocalist and a piano or cello accompaniment, in a small theater. Just takes me away to that special place. And I dress in non-slob clothing to show respect for these talented performers.

 

[gerntz]

We have many dedicated bike lanes and pedestrians are regularly injured walking or standing in them.

Are there dedicated walkways also or are these lanes both for bikes & walkers or are walkers just out of luck? Thanks.

 

[REWahoo]

How about Opera? My guess is that with huge prices for opera, the middle class is falling away from it ...

Cost isn't the only thing impacting the decline. The death of major talent like this has also reduced opera's appeal...

 

[kcowan]

Agree. We avoid live sporting and concert events like the plague. Certainly not worth the hassle. The cost seems way out of whack too.

We PVR football games and I watch them before 8 am. 3.5 hours in 45 minutes!

(When is the Bocce invitation?)

 

[haha]

I'm an Oregon State Beaver fan.

Now you're talking! I'm not from Oregon, but I share your Beaver fandom.

Ha

 

[UnrealizedPotential]

So after reading this thread, which was quite interesting, I think we can conclude that "things change over time". Big question is "is the change accelerating?" Seems obvious that it is but why? Probably demographics (baby boomers aging) and technology? Any other theories?

I don't know. It does seem as though every time a new generation comes along that things change. Especially musical tastes change every generation. The movers and shakers of our World have a feel for where the money is being spent in society so naturally they drift in that direction leaving those who came before left behind. Change is a part of life. It is what it is.