Birthdays and Twisters

I’m writing this column on my birthday, April 3. Another trip around the sun and voila, I’m 63 years of age. The Local Controller has threatened to cook dinner tonight. I’ll be sure to report any hospitalizations that might occur. She now informs me that a) I’m not nearly as funny as I think I am, and b) she’s talking with some local dining establishments about takeout. Whew. Eyeroll and out she goes. And just like that it’s L.C.-1—OK fine it’s 2—and Moi-0.

Having been born in 1960¹² I’m from one of the last years for Baby Boomers.³ I did a little research and found the following generations:⁴

The Greatest Generation: born 1901-1924
- Directly impacted by the Great Depression,⁵ they and their children were the epitome of frugality. This generation also made up the majority of soldiers in WWII.⁶ Many of their parents served in the military during WWI.⁷
The Silent Generation: born 1925-1945
- Smallest generation due to the Great Depression and WWII as well as being silent on social issues due to the McCarthy⁸ era of politics.
Baby Boomer Generation: born 1946-1964
- We are greatly misunderstood by being cast as not tuned into the modern world. In actuality we were integral to many technological advancements and have been adaptable to modern growth.⁹
Generation X: born 1965-1979
- Highly relevant to modern times via technology and often serve as a bridge between older generations and newer.
Millennials: born 1980-1994
- Often misunderstood and mislabeled as not understanding the values of previous generations and not maturing beyond the values of their childhood.
Generation Z: born 1995-2012
- Having been exposed to, and molded by, cyber-bullying/internet misuse, school-related violence and the climate crisis, there is much to be concerned about regarding mental and physical health issues.
Generation Alpha: born 2013-2025
- First group to be born in the 21st century! Also, the first children born to parents who grew up with the internet, smartphones, tablets, social media, and a plethora of technological ideas and machines.

I think these monikers are fascinating. It’s particularly interesting given the findings of The Pew Charitable Trusts that there isn’t a formal process. Rather the terms get tossed around by the media and used in popular parlance until a consensus emerges. There’s even some debate about the timelines for each generation.¹⁰

Where was I? Oh yeah. My birthday. I’m excited to spend some quality time with the family over a meal. Of course Zorro and Olive¹¹ will be in attendance. I don’t need gifts or a cake, just a little time with L.C. and the kiddos and I’m good to go. I did however get the chance to buy my own birthday present to be gifted to me by the Local Controller. We went to Dick’s Sporting Goods¹² looking for a new pocketknife for me. While I didn’t find one that suited me, I did find a new multi-tool to replace the one I lost. Fine. I didn’t lose it. I forgot it was in my backpack while flying recently and now TSA owns it. Oh, how I wish each of you dear readers could see the smirk on L.C.’s face and the little happy dance she’s doing. “Well, well, well…Mr. I Don’t Misplace Things got busted in the security line!” Tis true.¹³ Anyway, I got a new multi-tool and baseball hat. She left her purse in the car so I had the privilege of paying for my own birthday gift. I wonder if I must wrap it as well?! Man oh man, that got the laser stare! And the always uplifting: “Get to the point!” Good idea.

The point: I’m old. Loads of chuckles from L.C. and L.C. in training. Age is a relevant thing, of course. When I was 16 I felt certain anyone over the age of 40 seemed ancient. Being in one’s 60s was downright decrepit! I don’t see it that way now, but I bet you already knew that. The other point is to recognize some very special people from several generations. On Friday, the 31st of March, just a few days before my birthday, our state was rocked by a massive tornado. An EF-3.¹⁴ According to the experts that means tornado winds as high as 165 mph! That’s faster than the Local Controller in Training when she’s late for work. Laser stare. The devastation stretching from west Little Rock, North Little Rock, Sherwood, Jacksonville and Wynne is nothing short of horrifying. Three League staffers were forced to abandon their homes due to damage and loss of utilities. Thankfully neither they nor their families were injured. Their homes will repair although emotions will no doubt run high for the foreseeable future.

I know a little bit about recovery from a tornado. My family and I survived a direct hit from a tornado on January 21, 1999, that struck after dark. You may recall that there were 56 documented tornadoes on January 21 and 22. Most, like the one that hit my house, were F-3 tornadoes, although Clay County was struck by an F-4. There were eight deaths related to the storms.¹⁵ I have vibrant and clear memories of that terrible night. I was going to take the boys to the Harlem Globetrotters¹⁶that evening. Thank goodness we decided not to attend. The storms were in full force south of us and we sat with our eyes glued to the television watching and listening for any information that would keep us safe. In order, the following things occurred just seconds prior to the tornado arriving:

A downpour so thick that I could not see the house next to us that was only 15 feet away.
The rain abruptly ended like a giant faucet was shut off.
A few seconds of silence.
Then began the crashing of half-dollar size hail pummeling the house and ground sounding like a large snare drum.
A few seconds of silence.
A low roar began like a train and almost immediately became a deafening roar as though the train was in our ears.
We grabbed the two boys, seeing the terror in their eyes.
We slung them onto the pile of pillows in the hallway just a few feet away from where we were watching TV.
I draped myself over the top of the family just as the house was hit.
We felt the pressure and watched as the plaster walls cracked like giant spider webs, starting at the baseboards and reaching the ceilings.
The lights went out and all hell broke loose.
Debris filled the air.
Tree trunks and branches broke sounding like a hundred cannons being fired within seconds of each other.
Then silence.

All of that occurred in mere seconds. Once it was clear the tornado had passed my immediate concern was for my family. Thankfully we had no physical injuries. Emotionally we were all drained and we would all suffer a little PTSD. I stepped out on the front porch and a weird purple haze filled the night. The damage was overwhelming and difficult to reconcile with my memory of our home and street just moments before. Massive oak trees littered the landscape and lay on houses as though a box of toothpicks were dropped on a table. No order, just utter chaos. Then I heard my neighbors yell for help. Their house was severed in half by a huge tree. I ran to assist them as they were trying to crawl from under the house. No injuries thankfully, but I’ll never forget the fear and shock in their eyes. Then another yell from across the street from a single mom with three kids. I clamored over, under and around the trees and other debris to get to the house. They were in shock, and one of the little girls was screaming. After getting her under control the family of four held each other’s hands and my belt loops as I lead them back to my house.¹⁷

My story is the same as hundreds of others from this past Friday. Let me rephrase that. The same as tens of thousands of Arkansans. I started this column discussing the various generations over the past 123 years. I did so for a reason. Within 30 minutes of the 1999 tornado, police and firefighters were in the area. The next day city street crews, electric teams, the Red Cross, neighbors, volunteers, tree cutting companies, medical teams and many others appeared like magic. All of them came with one purpose in mind: to help. I’ll give you one guess what group of people stayed the longest and offered the most help. Yep, city officials, employees and volunteers. And they crossed many generational boundaries including the Silent Generation, the Boomers, Gen X and Millennials. I bet most of you, crossing multiple generations, are providing the same level of help tirelessly and with great determination. Well, probably not the Silent Generation but I bet some of the Gen Z pitched in! I know Mayor Scott (Little Rock), Mayor Hartwick (North Little Rock), Mayor Heye-Townsell (Sherwood), Mayor Elmore (Jacksonville) and Mayor Hobbs (Wynne) have not taken a single minute off duty since the storm passed except to catch a little sleep and gobble down a meal. Frankly, I bet every person who is elected in those cities, works for those cities and volunteers for those cities has been at it nonstop since Friday’s storm. To all of you, Generation City & Town, I salute you! You’re making a difference every day, tornadoes or no tornadoes.

Until next month, peace.

1
Here are a few big events from that year: JFK was elected president, OPEC was created and the first weather satellite was launched by the U.S.! http://bit.ly/40GxUgz The number one song on April 3, 1960, was Theme from “A Summer Place” by Percy Faith and His Orchestra. Mother Hayes still digs some Percy Faith! http://bit.ly/43a2S2g L.C. is laughing at the song. She says she’s laughing with me not at me. The only problem with that is I’m not laughing! The Apartment won best picture at the 33rd Academy Awards. I didn’t watch the movie or the show, after all I was an infant. http://bit.ly/43jDSpk
2
I researched the number one song on her birthday in hopes of it being something similar. Not so much. It was “I Will Follow Him” by Little Peggy March. http://bit.ly/3nMgccX L.C.-3, Moi-1. Not looking so good for Marky boy.
3
1946-1964 is the generally agreed definition of the Baby Boomer timeline. The term refers to the “boom” in births after the end of WWII. 76 million of us were born in that timeframe and we were the largest generational group in U.S. history until Millennials came along. http://bit.ly/3ZHHSg3
4
http://bit.ly/3ZIJA0T
5
One of the most daunting periods in world history started in September of 1929 but came to full fruition on October 24 and October 29 of the same year when the Wall Street stock market crashed. Forever known as Black Thursday and Black Tuesday respectively, the crash started a decade-long economic depression not only in the U.S. but many other countries around the world. It didn’t help that in the mid-1930s a severe drought hit most of the agricultural areas of our country. http://bit.ly/3MjvwYI
6
The war began in 1939 and did not end until 1945. It shaped world history for decades to come as well as directly affecting most of the world’s population. http://bit.ly/3GjfjPe
7
Known as the Great War, it was kickstarted in 1914 when Archduke Franz Ferdinand and his wife Sophie of Austria were assassinated. The killings set off a chain of events culminating in the start of the war. http://bit.ly/435ZvJx
8
Joseph McCarthy served in the U.S. Senate from 1947 until his death in 1957. He used the fear of the Cold War to become the face of anti-communism. He routinely engaged in bombastic browbeating character attacks to find the “enemies within” the U.S. http://bit.ly/3Ky2D9I
9
I freely admit asking my kids if they had a FaceSpace page. Not one of my better moments although it has given the family years of laughter.
10
Click on this link to read some cool stuff about the entire process of “naming” generations. http://bit.ly/40II14m
11
Zorro is a 75-pound black and white goldendoodle. Olive is 55-pound light brown something-doodle. Her mom Pearl is a goldendoodle. Daddy was more of the mutt variety. My social media posts are full of pictures of them, as well as my family and food. If you want to know the rather comical story about how Olive became a Hayes dog click here: https://bit.ly/411NDGz. See page 7 of the PDF, footnote 7.
12
Dick’s Sporting Goods was founded in 1948 by 18-year-old Dick Stack with a $300 gift from his grandmother. The $300 was in her cookie jar! https://investors.dicks.com/about-us/default.aspx
13
It seems clear now that L.C.’s score for this month’s column is too far for me to catch. I feel certain that each of you already figured that out!
14
EF stands for Enhanced Fujita Scale and it replaced the original Fujita scale in February of 2007. http://bit.ly/43ahZIY The original Fujita Scale was developed by Dr. T. Theodore Fujita, Ph.D., in 1971. http://bit.ly/3nLQ69Y
15
http://bit.ly/3GfjOuo
16
Abe Saperstein founded the team in 1926. They’ve entertained nearly 150 million people in 123 countries. They really are “Ambassadors of Extraordinary Goodwill.” ¹⁶http://bit.ly/3GnQfGT
17
At the time my house remained standing and appeared to have suffered less damage than others. We had blown out windows, a tree across the roof in the back of the house and floors in some places that felt like walking in a fun house at the fair. Later we learned the entire front wall of the home was a mere half inch from collapsing. We also learned the house had been knocked off its foundation.

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