Advice from boomers for today's generation

irish_buffalo

Well-known member

Many of these topics come up frequently on here. Some of them, such as using a darn app for everything are simply a sign of the times but these are ones that completely resonate with me (and I'm Gen X)

1). People spend WAY too much time on social media. Not every second needs to be posted.

15). Young children spend WAY too much time on tablets or other devices. I get you can get your 3 year old to by handing them a tablet but...

16). Children are being brainwashed by TikTok and other social media in the sense they can't focus on anything for more than a few seconds. Kids today expect instant gratification.

18). People posting everything online, especially every moment of their child's life. I feel as though people who do this become addicted to the attention through "likes" and comments that help their fragile egos into reinforcing they are a great parent (and that their kid is the most phenomenal kid in the world). Not everything you or your kid does is the absolute best thing ever.

19). Just because you can contact me 24/7 does not mean you should. People need time to unplug. All of this anxiety we hear about has to be related to people being plugged in 24/7.

23). Kids need to learn to be self reliant. Not all, but I see too many parents raising absolute b&tches but in their mind they are "crushing it" as parents because they post everything on social media and get "likes" and friendly BS comments (see #18). Have your kid do chores, get a job, and be accountable.

23). Five-year-olds do not need smart phones (or any phone). Heck, neither do 10-year-olds for that matter.

25). Quit being so loud in public. Be respectful of others around you. Do not talk loudly on your phone or play games with the sound on. Don't use the speakerphone. Don't play music without earbuds. Nothing is more annoying than "bluetooth guy."

NOW GET OFF MY LAWN!:ROFLMAO:

 
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I agree with all except,

21."Picking out a video at the store was better than looking through Netflix for something to watch."

I don't have Netflix.


I don't own a smartphone either. So there's a whole bunch of BS that I don't have to deal with.
 
Boomers (my generation) created this social =show, pretending they didn't. The amount of how we did it equitably in the old day false memories that come out of that puke generation created two generations of pizzed off people. Theirs is a life of denial. Who do you all think started the electronic development, got rich off the technology development, and at the manufacturing level sat arund drunk on the f-in docks putting out crap, watching us get passed up by the Germans and Japanese because they knew their jobs and their bloated retirement secure? F that, they're making more money sitting on their old azzes next to the harleys, smoking doobies then they ever made on the 40 plus.

This was the generation in which the union got lazy. This was NOT a harder working generation. This generation and their toady local politicians is why I because Republican. They're the f-in MAGA now.

There's not a more pretentious generation of marie antoinettes currently living. with this zhit
 
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Boomers (my generation) created this social =show, pretending they didn't. The amount of how we did it equitably in the old day false memories that come out of that puke generation created two generations of pizzed off people. Theirs is a life of denial. Who do you all think started the electronic development, got rich off the technology development, and at the manufacturing level sat arund drunk on the f-in docks putting out crap, watching us get passed up by the Germans and Japanese because they knew their jobs and their bloated retirement secure? F that, they're making more money sitting on their old azzes next to the harleys, smoking doobies then they ever made on the 40 plus.

This was the generation in which the union got lazy. This was NOT a harder working generation. This generation and their toady local politicians is why I because Republican. They're the f-in MAGA now.

There's not a more pretentious generation of marie antoinettes currently living. with this zhit
I agree wholeheartedly. And still some of those things resonates. You forgot to mention how many of them got left a bunch of perks from their hardworking WWII parents. And then squandered it all for their personal gain.

Now I'll get off your lawn. 🤣
 
I tend to have more of an older/Boomer mentality but I do think there’s some things they’re out of touch with in the modern world. That said, I like them way better than most Millennials & Gen Z.
 
Just because you might not be successful the first time you try something, don't quit. And when you commit to doing something, follow through.
 
Two of these youngsters were recently having a game of catch with their football when the ball landed in the middle of my backyard.

Well, I wasn't having any of that!

I pulled my Bowie knife out of its sheath, and ripped that ball open, then squirted a ton of Zippo lighter fluid on it before putting a match to it.

They'll never forget my gleeful laughs as i piizzed on it to put the fire out!

I love teaching youngsters meaningful lessons!
 
I have two laptops, a tablet, and a flip phone.

Almost any time I need immediate internet access I am with at least one person who has a smartphone.

I avoid a lot of unwanted BS.

I save money.

LOL

my smartphone replaced most of those things.

We have a stack of tablets we don’t use anymore except to watch movies on car trips.

My laptop is mainly used to backup photos and videos from my… smartphone.
 
I'm not a Boomer but the advice I give to this next generation is pretty simple.

Get a good job and live cheap after high school. The demand for labor is so strong that if you are smart with your money and invest at a reasonable rate of return you can be financially independent by 30 and financially secure by 40 even if you start a family at 25.

Life debt free at 40-45 offers so much flexibility.
 
Be honest with yourself and set realistic goals.
If you set massive goals then give yourself some incentives along the way.
Planning for the future is admirable but don't forget to live a little along the way.
 
I have two laptops, a tablet, and a flip phone.

Almost any time I need immediate internet access I am with at least one person who has a smartphone.

I avoid a lot of unwanted BS.

I save money.

LOL
You might be right?

I too avoided the smart phone until 2020. I liked my flip phone but it had no data capability and Verizon was still charging me $50/ month per phone line and we had two kids still at home so $200/ month for 4 flip phones.

Xfinity ran a deal where they offered up to 5 shared lines for $3.99 a month using Verizon's network. The catch? They had to be smart phones and you must purchase one GB of data per month shared between all lines for $12. Each additional GB would also be $12.

We use Wi fi at home so I purchased the 5 smart phones for about $200 each (did not have to use theirs, you could import yours if you already have one). We set each phone to recieve data in order to text without issues. Other than texting and phone, the smart phones are not used for any data, so our total bill per month is right at $4/ line, unlimited talk and text to entire US and 200 countries. With a little discipline that smart phone has saved us a bunch of money over three years. Literally $184/ month, for about 40 months.
 
Gen X as well and I can relate to a fair amount of these as well. My wife's firm had their 'holiday' party this weekend (they always do it in January) and it was at a country bar that had a really good band (and I don't like country music), but it was so damn loud that you couldn't have a conversation with anyone. Even when the band went on break, the music they played was at the same volume. We lasted maybe a little over an hour before we bailed.

And the automated menus are the worst - especially when you go through all the trouble of putting your account number or other info into the phone and then get a human being, who asks you the same exact question. :rolleyes:
 
Got one:

"If you think you've come up with a life "hack" that needs to go viral, consider that it's probably a version of something we saw years ago in Hints from Heloise."
 
1. Don’t trust anyone over 30.

2. Try to figure out how to incorporate technology into a well-lived life. WE think most of you are overdoing it. Us boomers think that a lot of life is passing you by while you’re looking at that screen. We’ve gotten dragged into it too. But it isn’t going away…you have to figure out how to balance things.

3. When the boomers talk about their free and easy childhoods, listen. Somehow, the boomers decided to organize everything and have parents running everything, but that’s not how we were raised. That childhood can be reclaimed. Resist the urge to sign YOUR children up for activities.

4. Huge attention to YOUR children. In the lap, reading books…make them feel special…it carries you a long way.

5. Get married.

6. Go to church. Learn a code of morality that isn’t directly related to politics.
 
1. Don’t trust anyone over 30.

2. Try to figure out how to incorporate technology into a well-lived life. WE think most of you are overdoing it. Us boomers think that a lot of life is passing you by while you’re looking at that screen. We’ve gotten dragged into it too. But it isn’t going away…you have to figure out how to balance things.

3. When the boomers talk about their free and easy childhoods, listen. Somehow, the boomers decided to organize everything and have parents running everything, but that’s not how we were raised. That childhood can be reclaimed. Resist the urge to sign YOUR children up for activities.

4. Huge attention to YOUR children. In the lap, reading books…make them feel special…it carries you a long way.

5. Get married.

6. Go to church. Learn a code of morality that isn’t directly related to politics.
I'm on board with 2-5 but am wondering about #1. I'm 66 and coach high school kids and they are very responsive so I suspect that they trust me and I value that trust. What is the issue with those over 30?
 
I'm on board with 2-5 but am wondering about #1. I'm 66 and coach high school kids and they are very responsive so I suspect that they trust me and I value that trust. What is the issue with those over 30?
It’s a line from the 1960’s…exhorting college-aged people to be suspicious of their elders. I included it tongue in cheek (partly)…
 
4. Huge attention to YOUR children. In the lap, reading books…make them feel special…it carries you a long way.
This is often confused with doing everything for them. They have to fail and learn how to get up on their own. You can help but it has to be theirs.

Making them feel special has to be calculated. Telling them that everything they do is great creates a very false reality.
 
This is often confused with doing everything for them. They have to fail and learn how to get up on their own. You can help but it has to be theirs.

Making them feel special has to be calculated. Telling them that everything they do is great creates a very false reality.
Right…we’ve been parents. I know what I mean…I think you know what I mean…

Unconnected to things that are done or not done. Just loved unconditionally…separate and apart from expectations, duties, behavior…
 
It’s a line from the 1960’s…exhorting college-aged people to be suspicious of their elders. I included it tongue in cheek (partly)…
Jack Weinberg (born April 4, 1940) is an American environmental activist and former New Left activist who is best known for his role in the Free Speech Movement at the University of California, Berkeley in 1964.

Weinberg is credited with the phrase, "Don't trust anyone over 30". The saying exists in several variants, such as "Never trust anybody over 30". It has been wrongly attributed to Abbie Hoffman, Jerry Rubin, the Beatles, and others. Weinberg used the phrase during a November 1964 interview about the Free Speech Movement with a reporter for the San Francisco Chronicle. Weinberg later describe the incident as follows:

I was being interviewed by a newspaper reporter, and he was making me very angry. It seemed to me his questions were implying that we were being directed behind the scenes by Communists or some other sinister group. I told him we had a saying in the movement that we don't trust anybody over 30. It was a way of telling the guy to back off, that nobody was pulling our strings.
On November 15, 1964, the Chronicle printed the story, quoting Weinberg as saying "We have a saying in the movement that you can't trust anybody over 30."

A Chronicle columnist, Ralph J. Gleason, highlighted the saying in his column on November 18. The saying then went viral, becoming a favorite for reporters and columnists wishing to ridicule the young, the New Left, or the hippie/Yippie movement.

- Wikipedia
 
My advice it to spend more time with folks in person or pick up a phone and talk to someone, much gets lost in digital communication and we lose that sense of connection. I heard one of the reasons the show Friends is so popular with Gen Xers and Millennials is that they long for the ability to just hang out with their friends and experience life in person, sitting on a coach at home with a mobile device posting short vids on social media creates a sense of disengagement and creates loneliness.
 
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