Silent but deadly

Ted Richards of Batemans Bay observes that our neighbours in the Letters section “are carrying on a treat about Millennials and Boomers. Where do we,the now almost prehistoric generation born before WWII,fit into this? Are we NOBs (New Old Buffers or Buffettes),or what?” Granny doesn’t know whether this will be a comfort or not,but the generation born between the years of 1928 and 1945 has indeed already been given a moniker:The Silent Generation. Yes,that’s right. All those regular Column 8 and Letters contributors – past,present and (hopefully) future – who are members of this generation. Silent. All of you. Oh,the irony! Born between 1901-27? You are,of course,a member of The Greatest Generation. Cue outrage from Boomers and Millennials:“Butwe’re the greatest generation!”

The current recurrence of electrical puns (C8) has Brian Harris of Warrawee concerned. “Back in the 1970s in the UK,my friend David Stewart and I traded puns on this topic for a full two-hour journey. You may need to switch them off quickly before too many revolting contributions cause high tension.”

As no manual alternative was available,the latest car of Col Burns of Lugarno,much to his regret,is “an automatic (C8) with four different Drive modes,paddle shifts which,when accidentally bumped,freeze you in that gear,a button to select Park although a T-bar selects Drive,with options of Auto-Hold and Launch Assist that I fail to understand. Compared to this,double clutching my old Falcon was a breeze.”

Susan Bradley of Eltham (Vic) suspects that David Gordon has got his yardarm (C8) upside down. “Surely,one waits until the sun is below the yardarm before alcohol is imbibed?”

Reading about the 1926 head-on collision between the ferriesKaikai andKoompartoo in theHerald’s Timelines column of June 24 was a blast from the past for 102-year-old Margaret “Peggy” Tanner of Riverview,as she had been onboard theKaikai at the time with her mother,sister and brother. Reminiscing to her niece,Rachel Armstrong of Rosebery,Peggy remembered the railing and other parts of the ferry being smashed up but,proving the enduring power of kindness,her most vivid memory of the time was her mother telling her afterwards “that a man sitting near them had said to her,‘You look after the girls and I’ll take care of the boy’ and helped them out during the chaos.”

Column8@smh.com.au

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