From: The Baby-Boom Generation
To:   Everybody Else
Re:   An Overdue Apology

We're sorry that because we were raised in an era of prosperity we took it all for granted. We belittled discipline, laughed at delayed gratification and scoffed at the work ethic.

We're sorry that we rejected the schools of our day. Now our kids can't read unless we send them to private schools.

We're sorry that our misplaced desire to expand our minds made drugs look so attractive.

We're sorry that we needed to "get in touch with ourselves." Now we are a bunch of blubbering, daytime-television watching crybabies, constantly looking for the next self-improvement fad to come along.

We're sorry that in caring about our foreign neighbors we made our borders unprotected, our aliens illegal and our education bilingual.

We're sorry for wanting to be more open and accepting. It made us turn our backs on our nation's heritage in the name of tolerance.

We're sorry that because we didn't want to be selfish like we thought our parents were, we supported a welfare system that imprisoned the poor by pretending to be daddy.

We're sorry we viewed sex as free love. We didn't see the skyrocketing divorce rates and record breaking teenage pregnancies that were sure to come.

We're sorry for mocking religion. We thought it was too unsophisticated. Now our kids can't say grace in school, see the Ten Commandments on the wall or put on a pageant at Christmas time.

We're sorry that we wanted to liberate society from the old-fashioned rules that our parents' generation embraced. We were sure that there was no right or wrong. Now we have increased dishonesty, corruption and crime at the highest levels of our land.

We're sorry that our generation protested a war we didn't like. We didn't realize our peacenik mentality would turn our military into a pizza delivery service.

We're sorry for wanting to get rid of prejudice. We believed in the brotherhood of man. We never thought our government would discriminate instead.

We're sorry that in wanting to treat women fairly, we tore moms away from their homes and their kids.

We're sorry that although we fancied ourselves as being free of the trappings of fashion and vanity, we have now become a self-obsessed, tummy-tucked, liposucked, petty people who refuse to grow up or grow old.

Most of all, we're sorry for all of the good intentions that went awry.

Our penance will be spending the rest of our days convincing you that we were wrong.

Author unknown