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Photographic evidence of the existence of Jesus.
This family gets it right. Thanks be to Jesus.
05.21.12
OK, Boomer, you're right about this one.
The gaze of the approving Boomer.
Over the past few years, Baby Boomers (1946 to 1964) have been getting a lot of grief from the generations that came after them, Gen X (1965 to 1980), Millenials (1981 to 1996), and now, Gen Z (1997 to 2012). Their grievances include environmental destruction, wealth hoarding, political polarization, and being judgemental when they don’t understand how hard it is for younger people to make it in America these days.
Every Baby Boomer is different, so it's wrong to paint them all with a broad brush. But it’s undeniable that each generation shares common values, and some are bound to come into conflict.
However, life in 2023 isn’t without its annoyances. Many that came about after the technological revolution put a phone in everyone’s hands and brought a whole new host of problems. Add the younger generations' hands-on approach to child rearing and penchant for outrage, and a lot of moden life has become insufferanble.
These problems weren’t created by Boomers but by their hyper-online children and grandchildren who can’t seem to get their faces out of their phones.
A Reddit user named AnitaVodkasoda took to the AskReddit forum and asked posters to admit there were some things that Boomers got right. “What is something you can say 'I'm with the boomers on this one' about?” they asked, and many responses came from people fed up with the modern-day frustrations caused by technology and social media.
Here are 19 things that people think that Boomers got right.
"Any business which requires you to use an app. I don’t want to download an app, make an account, and remember said password for the account. Especially because the app doesn’t even work a lot of the time or is extremely convoluted with the frontend design." — Sammy_Henderschplitz
"Kids do great with totally unstructured outdoor play. They don’t need an organized game or activity. If you take a bunch of kids to a park and keep an eye on them they’ll figure out stuff to do together and often come up with creative and interesting things that adults wouldn’t have thought of. Just keep them physically safe and let them run around and do kid stuff. You don’t need to curate everything." — HeavyHebrewHammer
"Concert ticket pricing is too high. Once you get in a beer is $17!" — Whatabout-Dre
"Every business asking for tips at checkout. Digital menus. Not being able to own things anymore like software or having to pay monthly fees for car features." — mutualbuttsqueezin
"Phones at concerts. I take one pic when the artist comes on and then I just enjoy the show. You’re never gonna look back at your sh**** videos with you singing off-key in the background lol just enjoy the music." — Used_Eraser
"Social media is unhealthy and children shouldn't have unrestricted access to the internet." — horrorflowers
"Parents who let their kids use tablets in public spaces with the volume all the way up, no headphones, and not doing it to stop an imminent tantrum (if they truly cannot get the kid out of that shared space for some reason) are trashy af. Fight me." — kishbish
"Touchscreens in cars suck." — sketchy_painting
"Calling any business and getting an automated system that takes you 12 minutes to get through, doesn’t answer your question, and you can’t get a real person." — SexyJesus7
"The 'my kid is never wrong' attitude every parent seems to have now. And we wonder why there’s a teacher shortage." — Cinderjacket
"Learn to write a professional email. The number of Gen Z kids I’ve had who send me emails without salutations, with emojis and shorthand like lol omg etc, without proper spelling and punctuation, is crazy. That is fine for texting or exchanges with people you’re friends with, but it’s not for the workplace." — pistachiobees
"Paper straws suck." — JohnYCanuckEsq
"Don't get tattoos on your face." — Disastrous-Aspect569
"Just tell us if you are having a boy or girl. Or wait until the baby is born. We don’t need to assemble for some ridiculous reveal. I don’t want pink or blue dust all over the place." — Kevin Dean
"I think people tend to be too sensitive, personal outrage shouldn't be so important. It's disheartening to see so many people whine and cry and fight over inconsequential nonsense while pressing issues remain unaddressed." — Empathetic_Orch
"Movies, and some TV shows for that matter, are mixed idiotically these days. I don't appreciate having to crank the volume way up to hear the whispered dialog, only to have a music swell or explosion or something blow my head clean off. No amount of tweaking my sound system has fixed this." — broberds
"Being able to afford a house." — The-Black-Douglas
"Headlights are too damned bright now." — 15all
"Get off my lawn." — Disastrous_Motor_189
It became a beautiful display of compassion.
Kindness is magic.
Christmas is often a time when we try to dig a little deeper to be kind, generous, compassionate, grateful…all the things that make humanity worthwhile.
But having that holiday spirit isn’t always easy when in the middle of conflict. Let’s face it—when someone isn’t kind to us, the hardest thing to do is come back with the best version of ourselves. A special time of the year isn’t going to change that.
And yet, it’s much easier to retain this wisdom when we see it in action elsewhere. Which is why a certain video is making the rounds on TikTok and inspiring others to, as the saying goes, be the change they want to see in the world.
In a now-viral clip shared by several accounts online, we see a man speaking with his neighbor, an elderly woman, on the his porch.
The conversation, all caught on the man’s football camera, appeared to be a confrontation as the elderly woman had come to raise her concerns over the man’s rope Christmas lights, which she claimed were keeping her up at night.
“We went through this before, sweetheart,” the man said in the clip, reminding her that the police came by previously and determined that the lights couldn’t be shining through her bedroom window and causing any disturbance.
Indeed, they had gone head-to-head regarding the Christmas lights before. A previous video showed the woman knocking on his door at 1:30 am to complain about them, resulting in the man saying he would call the cops. The interaction didn’t go much farther than that, but it certainly wasn’t a smooth one.
Many noted that the woman could have been dealing with dementia, which would explain her forgetting any previous encounters.
It’s easy to see how this second altercation could have quickly escalated into something ugly, but instead, the man promised to have lights off by 10 pm at the woman’s request. No sarcasm or passive aggressive tone—just 100% kindness.
And then, the man surmised that this woman didn’t come over to discuss Christmas lights at all. What she was really after was companionship.
@mrdenali69 A true gentleman she’s probably dealing with demntia or something. Im glad he wasn’t mean to her.
♬ original sound - mrdenali
“I think you just need to come over when you’re lonely,” he said, offering for her to come over anytime she feels lonely to have some food, wine and a chat.
Completely taken by surprise, the woman’s hand rushed to her cheeks, and she began apologizing again. But her neighbor simply laughed it off, reassuring her that all was well.
Perhaps the man was right. The holidays can be a lonely time for anyone, but it can hit especially hard for seniors. A survey carried out by AARP in 2017 found that 28 percent of U.S. adults ages 50 and older reported feeling lonely during a holiday season. And that was before a worldwide pandemic.So maybe this woman saw those Christmas lights, a bittersweet reminder of what she might be missing out on, and was hit with an inexorable yearning for connection without even being aware of her own pain. Who knows.
One thing is for sure—his compassion completely changed the situation, and maybe even their relationship. It’s a beautiful reminder of just how powerful kindness can be.
The 42-year-old optical illusion is still astounding people.
Prepare to get Thatcherized.
It seems that Adele is going viral once again.
Perhaps you’ve seen the image in question previously (it seems to make the rounds every couple of years). But in case you missed it—it’s Adele’s face. Normal, just upside down.
Only it’s not normal. In fact, when you turn Adele’s face right side up, what you notice is that her eyes and mouth were actually right-side up THE ENTIRE TIME, even though the entire head was upside down. So when you turn the head right side up, the eyes and mouth are now UPSIDE-DOWN—and you can’t unsee it. Do you feel like you're Alice in Wonderland yet?
Just wait. Things get even more fascinating. Especially because this optical illusion is over 40 years in the making.
Below you’ll find the Adele photo in question. Go ahead. Take a look at it. Then turn the image upside down.
Can't. Unsee.
Crazy right? And just a little terrifying?
As the Facebook post explains, this mind-boggling image highlights a phenomenon known as the Thatcher effect. Our brains, so much more used to recognizing faces that are right-side up, have difficulty detecting specific changes once a face is upside down.
Seeing that everything is more or less where it should be, our brains don’t notice anything out of the ordinary in Adele’s face until we turn her face back to a normal position.
The Thatcher effect got its name from British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher, on whose photograph it was first demonstrated back in 1980 by Peter Thompson, Professor of Psychology at York University.
This demonstration was one of the first to explore just how facial recognition works, and certainly the first to suggest that humans (and monkeys, it turns out) process faces on a more holistic level, rather than by individual components like lips and eyes. Since its publication, there has been a wealth of research exploring how our brain takes in both subtle and striking facial configurations.
Funny enough, it was once believed that this illusion only worked on the Prime Minister’s face. But as Adele has proven, anyone can be Thatcherized.
This article originally appeared on 8.31.23
This kid was born to dance.
Klein Kwagga understood the assignment at his sister's concert.
Some kids are too shy to ever want to get on a stage, some will spend most of a performance staring awkwardly at their shoes, and some kids love the opportunity to show off what they've practiced in front of an audience.
And then there are the kids were simply born for the spotlight. You know them when you see them.
When Dirkco Jansen van Nieuwenhuizen hopped on stage with all of the other brothers and sisters of the dance students at René’s Art of Dance in South Africa, no one expected a viral sensation. According to Capetown Etc, it was the school's year-end concert, and siblings were invited to come up and dance to Bernice West’s Lyfie—a popular song in Afrikaans. And Dirkco, who goes by Klein Kwagga, took the assignment and ran with it.
Or rather, he danced with it. From the moment the music started, the 7-year-old was all in, expertly demonstrating his moves with intent seriousness. Nothing seemed to faze him—not the other kids around him, not the whoops from the crowd—he was just on.
Watch:
@kleinkwagga1 Doen dit lyfie doen dit! @Bernice West #Dans #fun #show Die Here het my mooi gemaak🎊🥳
Translated into English, the song begins with the lyrics "The Lord made me beautiful" and goes on to celebrate our bodies and dancing before God. But you don't have to understand a word of Afrikaans to enjoy Klein Kwagga's enthusiasm for the song and for dancing his little heart out.
"I can’t get enough of this, I want this vibe everyday," wrote one commenter.
"Jumped straight out of his Toyota land cruiser and owned the show 😁," wrote another.
After someone at the concert shared the video, Klein Kwagga's family set up a TikTok channel for him and shared some other videos. As one video shows, hamming it up is clearly in the kid's nature. Check out this clip of him as a ringbearer at a wedding:
@kleinkwagga1 #wedding #Ringbearer #Twist #Dance #funny@Die_Swart_Kat_ @boerboelwear @Robbie wessels @Bernice West
Gotta love a kid who instantly shines in the spotlight. Keep on dancing, Klein Kwagga. We love to see it.
Sometimes the best gift is practicality.
People share the most practical ways to support new parents
There's a lot of preparation that goes into having a child well before they're even born. First there are the physical changes your body makes to clear up some space for a tiny human roughly the size of a watermelon. Then there's preparing the nursery, buying lots of extremely small clothes, diapers and an expected understanding that while sleep may be your friend, you won't be getting any of it for about a year.
Lots of people give plenty of advice to help you cope in the early days but after the baby arrives, the focus shifts to solely the baby. It's obviously not a deliberate shift. Babies are just more shiny and new that the parents. But not everyone forgets about the parents once baby makes their grand entrance–some go out of their way to make sure the parents feel supported.
Upworthy asked its audience, "what was the best non-baby related gift you received as a new parent," and the answers were a masterclass on how to care for new parents.
Usually when people think of new babies, they often stop short of thinking of the person that just gave birth. All of the gifts that come in are typically for the new infant, which is helpful but in the early days it can feel like you're invisible. This means that the small gestures to focus on the parent or parents can really make a big impact and it looks like the Upworthy audience is acutely aware of this fact. Here are some of the most meaningful and practical gifts:
"My best friend came by a day or two after I’d given birth with fresh washed and precut fruits and veggies and this is the only thing I remember being given. I was so thirsty and depleted and that gesture was everything," Emmanuelle Hertel writes.
"My grandma brought me groceries. Right to my third floor apartment. She was way old and it was probably a big hassle for her but incredibly helpful and thoughtful. She knew it was hard to leave the house and that I was a single mom of a baby," Kristina Scott remembers.
"A basket of easy to grab finger foods, cheeses, sparkling cider. It was a godsend," Peggy Auerbacher says.
"A house keeping crew for a month from my sister-in-laws," Evelyn Strimel Durkin says.
"My mother had someone come in and deep clean my house right before I delivered. It stayed clean with little effort right through the first couple of weeks. And those last couple of weeks of pregnancy, I was definitely not able to clean the way that I would have liked to. It was a blessing. And a fabulous gift," Patrice Powers King writes.
"My mom came and cleaned my house top to bottom, let me shower, kept our crockpot full of healthy food, and helped me learn how to breastfeed. Best gift I’ve ever received," Casi Dixon Hitchens admits.
"When my sister in law came & took our two little ones & said “do what you want but I’m taking your kids for a few hours “ These kids are now in their 50 ‘s and I still think about that. Best gift ever," Esther Keber says.
"A friend picked up my kids and took them to her house for dinner and play when she delivered dinner for husband and me," Mara Capuano writes.
"After a C-section w my first, my Mom came to help. I needed groceries AND I just needed to get out. She said “ take your time, no rush, I’m here”. She knew, I just needed a minute to myself, even if it was just getting groceries. She’s long gone, but she saw ME," Sandy Corr reminisces.
Of course people were happily taking notes of the thoughtful gifts other's received so they could pass along the practical joy. Is there a gift you received that simply made your life a little easier with a newborn? Tell us about it but most importantly, remember these ideas when you find yourself curious what to gift your expecting friend or relative.
Too many women lose out on much needed support because of unwarranted stigma.
Postpartum depression is very common, and treatable.
Jessica Porten recently visited her doctor four months after giving birth to her daughter, Kira. She wasn't feeling quite like herself.
She had been dealing with overwhelming sadness and fits of anger, which she knew was likely stemming from a case of postpartum depression.
In a Facebook post, Porten recounts the story of that appointment.
"I tell them I have a very strong support system at home, so although I would never hurt myself or my baby," she writes. "I’m having violent thoughts and I need medication and therapy to get through this."
In other words, she went to her doctor to ask for help for an extremely normal and treatable issue that affects an estimated 1 million women in the U.S. each year in one form or another.
But instead of getting help, as Porten tells it, the office did something pretty unexpected: They called the police.
Because of her admission to "violent thoughts," staff wanted the police to escort Porten to the ER for evaluation.
The cops, according to Porten, were skeptical of the need for their presence when they arrived and allowed her to drive herself to the hospital.
But the ordeal continued.
"We arrive at the ER and I’m checked in, triaged, blood drawn. I am assigned a security guard to babysit me," she writes.
She says she waited for over an hour to get a room, all while wrangling her months-old baby. After some brief tests, a lot of waiting, and a super-short interview with a social worker, she was deemed mentally fit enough to be discharged.
Porten and her 4-month-old didn't leave the hospital until after midnight.
The worst part? Porten never got the help she asked for.
Postpartum depression is as serious as the stigma it carries
Canva
In addition to the undue stress and wasted time, Porten left the hospital without having received any medical help whatsoever.
"Not once during all of this has a doctor laid eyes on me," she writes. "Not once. Not even before they decided to call the cops on me."
Porten says that, for all her time and effort, she received some papers and pamphlets and was sent on her way.
"I’m still processing all of the emotions that are coming with being treated this way. I’m not exactly sure what to do here. I will say I am deeply hurt and upset, and above all angry and disgusted and disappointed by how this whole thing went down."
She also points out that if she had been a woman of color, her ordeal probably would have been even more drawn out and traumatic.
Postpartum depression is a serious issue - as is the stigma it carries.
Postpartum depression is common. The condition, and even the scary violent thoughts that sometimes accompany it, may even have an important evolutionary purpose. Some argue that new moms are on high alert for danger and that stress can sometimes visually manifest itself in their thoughts.
But, as with most mental health issues, postpartum depression can carry a lot of shame, embarrassment, and guilt for the women affected by it — leading them to ignore their symptoms instead of seeking help. One study even found that countries that don't recognize postpartum depression by name actually see women more likely to come forward with their symptoms.
Stories like Porten's show exactly why many women would rather suffer in silence than be poked, prodded, and treated inhumanely. And of course, not getting proper treatment will only make things wore.
It's time for a different approach.
It may be a common policy to call the police in the interest of the child's safety. But a policy that better addresses the mother's concerns and gets her the help she needs, without being shamed, is definitely a better way to go.
To get there, we need to help more honest and brave women feel comfortable coming forward about the aspects of postpartum depression that are hard to talk about. And we all need to better educate ourselves on the complexities of mental health issues and, more importantly, the human beings behind them.
You can find a link to Porten's post on Facebook here:
https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=1021317492...
This story originally appeared on 01.24.18