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Younger people are admitting baby boomers got these 17 things right

"Kids shouldn't be on phones or iPads all the time. It makes them weird."

via Christian Buehner/Unsplash

Baby boomers didn't get everything wrong.

In recent years, baby boomers have often been the target of criticism from younger generations. The most common accusations are that boomers are selfish and don’t care about leaving ample resources (whether financial or environmental) to subsequent generations. They also come under fire for not being able to acknowledge that it was easier for people of their generation to come of age when things were more affordable and life was a lot less competitive.

However, we should also understand that many of today’s problems are not the boomers’ doing, especially when it comes to the issues that stem from entitled children and technology run amok. In hindsight, there’s something to be said about the importance that boomers placed on self-reliance, letting kids be kids and having a healthy skepticism towards technology.

In the end, each generation contributes to the tapestry of society in its unique way, whether good or bad, even baby boomers. This became evident after a Reddit user named Youssef4573 asked the AskReddit subforum: ‘What is something you can say ‘I'm with the boomers on this one’ about?” Over 4,700 people responded to the prompt, and the most prevalent problems mentioned by the younger generations were overreliance on technology, the modern world’s lack of human touch and how Gen Xers and millennials have raised their children.

Here are 17 things that younger people are “with the boomers” about.

1. Public filming

"Just because I’m in public doesn’t mean I want to be filmed. Yeah, I know legally you can, but common courtesy people." — Jayne_of_Canton

2. Customer service

"I want to talk to a person in customer service, not a machine." — lumpy_space_queenie

"And also a person that actually works at the company I bought the product from, not a teenager at an outsourced call center with a script to follow and who answers calls for 15 different companies on the same day." — Loive.

3. Turn up the dialog

"For the love of all that is holy, can we fix the audio in movies so that the music and sound FX aren’t drowning out the dialogue?" — Caloso

"And the action sequences don’t burst your eardrums or the dialogue is whispers." — Whynottry-again

4. Bring back buttons

"No, I don't need everything in my car to be electronic. Some stuff needs buttons." — LamborghiniHEAT

"This was the big thing for me in my last car - trying to adjust volume or change songs while driving is way more dangerous when it’s all touch screen. Thankfully my current car has physical knobs for everything." — GeekdomCentral

5. App overload

"Every store/service does not need an app." — BigDigger324

"I was standing at a car rental counter at an airport (boomer here) to rent a car. My daughter’s car broke down on the way to pick me up. While standing at the counter, with a customer service rep right there and not busy, I had to log in to their site, create an account, and reserve a car. It seemed ridiculous and it took a long time, filling in my license information and all that. This was last September." — Cleanslate

6. Bring back DIY

"Learning DIY skills is crucial. I had basically zero DIY skills when I bought my house because I had lived in apartments for so long and I've had to learn a lot. YouTube tutorials are absolutely clutch." — JingleJongleBongle

7. Turn off the speakerphone

"I hated this when I worked at Walmart. So many of my coworkers would talk on speaker or watch TikTok at full volume. It's just trashy imo, nobody wants to hear your media." — WhiteGuy1x

"I work at an emergency medical office and holy sh*t the amount of people that sit in a quiet, peaceful lobby and just have the LOUDEST conversations on their phone…. Speaker or otherwise. Not to mention the people that still watch sh*t without headphones. Like do you not see the plethora of other people around you that you’re disturbing?" — Cinderpuppins

8. Ban QR code menus

"I think menus should be tangible." — Limp-Management9684

"QR codes kill the vibe. We’re all on our phones constantly throughout the day and then when you go to spend some quality time with someone, it’s another excuse to whip out the phone and stare at it. There’s an intimacy to a physical menu. You’re looking at what the other person is reading, you’re each pointing to parts of the menu. You’re noticing the lighting of the restaurant. QR codes feel chintzy and kill the ambiance completely." — VapeDerp420

9. Stop subscriptions

"When I was your age, you only had to pay for a video game once to own it." — CattonCruthby

10. Free the children

"A kid in 2024 should have the same freedom to exist unsupervised and move about their community independently as a boomer did growing up." — PixelatedFish

"The world is safer than it's ever been and people are more scared than ever. I blame true crime and local news." ⲻ Unhappyhippo142

11. Kids need to touch grass

"Kids shouldn't be on phones or iPads all the time. It makes them weird." — Ubstantial_Part_952

"The same could be said about most adults." — DrunkOctopus

12. Stop being so sensitive

"People in our generation are far, far too sensitive. Don't get it twisted; empathy is, by and large, a good thing and it takes some serious doing for me to say it's gone too far. But collectively, we've become people willing to throw every last bit of energy fighting against every slight and making sure our pet cause gets top billing to the point of fighting amongst each other even if we're in almost complete agreement otherwise. Emotional energy - like any other kind of energy - is very much a finite resource. Whereas boomers could at least generally agree to disagree and get on with things (obvious cross-wielding exceptions doth apply). Culturally, we've lost sight of the adage of 'winning the battle, losing the war.'" — almighty_smiley

13. Stop delivery

"Food delivery services are a complete ripoff; if you use them regularly, you’re terrible with money. Get off my lawn." — VapeDerp420

14. Parking meters

"So rather than throwing a few coins in your meter, you have to now get your license plate #, get your meter number, go to the meter station, stand in line with everyone waiting to pay their meter, then you're set. It's an unnecessary amount of extra steps. I don't carry cash much anymore, but I can hide a small amount of coin in my car to quickly pay a meter." — Luke5119

15. Kids should know their place

"Not letting your children rule the roost. When did it become acceptable to let your kids back-talk to you, slap you, climb all over shi*t in public places? As we've raised ours, I've witnessed so many parents around us just let these behaviors slide. It's kind of sad when I'm the one saying things like, "Did I just hear you just say that to your mom?!?!?!?! That is not ok. You go and apologize right now!!". Then I get this stunned "deer in headlights" look back that tells me they aren't used to someone calling them out on their behavior." — Cobblestone-Villain

16. Pride in ownership

"Seems that a lot of boomers have pride of ownership and enjoy maintaining what they have." — Awkward_Bench123

17. Don't follow leaders

"My dad (a solid boomer) has been saying that ALL politicians are crooks since he became disenchanted with politics around the Nixon era. He was starry-eyed before that, trying to make social change, yada yada. He still votes, but holds his nose. Can’t say I disagree with him." — Thin_white_duchess


This article originally appeared in January.

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Pop Culture

Gen Zers share 17 of their biggest 'Boomer' complaints that a lot of us secretly agree with

Does anybody like QR code menus?

via Yerling Villalobos/Unsplash

A Baby Boomer thinks people are "too sensitive" these days.

Even though there is a considerable age gap between Gen Zers (those aged 12 to 27) and Baby Boomers (60 to 70), the younger generation admits that they share many complaints with the older generation.

A recent Reddit post by a user named bangbangskeetskeet23 asked Gen Zers, “What’s the most Boomer complaint you have?” and many of them shared that they don’t like how technology has taken over every aspect of their lives. They also feel that common human decency has gone out the window in many ways.

What’s interesting about the Gen Zers’ admissions is they were born in the Internet era and most of them can’t remember a time without smartphones. But even though they are digital-age natives, they can’t help but feel uneasy about how big tech has taken over our lives.

One wonders if they’ll be the last generation to share that sentiment.



Here are 17 of the most Boomer complaints shared by Gen Z.

1. No more QR code menus

"I hate QR code menus. Give me the damn plastic-covered menu that hasn’t seen a Clorox wipe in years."

"It's just annoying because your phone might die, or you have kids and they might not have phones, or you might have parents and they might not have phones. Or you don't want to go out to eat and be staring at your phones."

2. Computerized cars

"I hate tech in cars. With a passion. I want a hand break. I want levers and dials and buttons with physical feedback."

"When those touch buttons break, it’s so expensive to fix and it’s getting harder to work on cars unless you go to a dealer and they way overcharge."

3. They don't make things like they used to

"I was just talking to my fiancé about this! Recently, a refrigerator from the 1940s was found abandoned in a Texas field. Someone picked it up and brought it home, plugged it in without fixing anything and it still worked like brand new. Someone stitched the TikTok and said that we would never have a product like that again. Everything now is designed to break, so you have to go spend more money with that specific company."

4. Kids need boredom

"Young people these days can't seem to sit down, shut up, and enjoy the moment; it's always Go! Go! Go! I blame smartphones and the virtually unrestricted access to the internet. Seriously, chill out, breathe, and just sit. Don't pull out your phone, just sit, relax, and observe; the world ain't goin' nowhere."



5. People are too sensitive

"Yes, it's great that we're becoming less tolerant of prejudice, but there are a**holes everywhere. You need to be able to build up some resilience for your own sake."

"Being a victim is not cool, it makes you look helpless. Being self-reliant is cool."

6. "What's your Insta?"

"Everyone you meet asks for your social media profile. I don’t have any. You wanna talk to me, here’s my number."

7. Get off your phone

"Why is everyone always on their phones? When I see friend groups all sitting around on their phones instead of talking to each other it's depressing. Having phones banned at schools is actually not a bad idea. Kids are glued to their screens all day and then complain they have bad social skills or no friends, which is just... come on now. And I'm no extrovert myself but at least make an effort."

"Went to a bach party recently with a bunch of girls I knew from college that i hadnt seen in a few years. I swear, the whole time, they were either planning content, making content, or posting content. It was bizarre. It felt like we were just presenting the image of having fun rather than actually just having it. Half the time i spent drinking in silence in a circle while everyone stared at their phone in matching pink t shirts telling esch other how many likes the most recent TikTok they posted had received. It was like a black mirror episode."



8. iPads are frying your brain

"Kids are being so messed up by unrestricted internet access. The iPads are deep frying their brains before they even get a chance to use them. I keep seeing videos and comments from teachers about how poorly students are doing, kids can’t even read, think critically, and are just being pushed through to the next grade even if they fail. I’m so worried for the future when these kids grow up and are let loose on the rest of us."

9. Loud background music

"Why the hell is background music in restaurants and stores so goddamn loud. Looking at you Chipotle."

"There’s a reason for this. The louder it is, the faster people eat and leave. The faster this happens, the more money they make."

10. Pick up your phone

"How people absolutely refuse to pick up their phones. Believe me, I’m a 99% text me kinda of guy. But there are certain times like when my car is on fire and I need you to pick up your phone and people still refuse to."

11. Can I speak with a human?

"Why does it take me 30 minutes and press 20 buttons to get a real human on the phone."

"Companies consider employees to be a tax. They avoid them at all costs. They'll spend 100x a salary for technology to avoid a human--yet they expect everyone to be able to purchase their products. We're doomed."


12. Everything requires an app

"I hate that you need an app for everything. Don’t get me wrong, I love apps. I couldn’t get through my day without Spotify, YouTube, my banking apps, etc. but when f**kers like McDonald’s want me to get an app just so I can get menu items at their normal prices, they can f**k right off."

13. What happened to grocery baggers?

"The people don’t bag our groceries at the grocery store anymore and they will start scanning the next persons groceries before we’re even halfway done getting ours together, suddenly we’re feeling rushed to death and the next persons groceries are lumped in a pile with ours on a small space. pisses me right off."

14. The broccoli haircut

"I’m sorry but that broccoli haircut is just awful."



15. Today's music is terrible

"I don't like the current music (from like around 2020 to today)."

16. Bring back respect

"There’s no more honor or respect in our society anymore. I try to be as nice and positive as I can to people around me and I want to help people and make people's lives better but it just doesn’t feel like you can do that anymore. It’s like if I’m driving and see someone stuck on the side of the road I want to help them but it’s like there’s a 50/50 chance I either get robbed or they freak out thinking I’m going to hurt them or something since it’s almost unheard of that people just help each other."

17. More dress codes

"School dress codes are necessary and we should call out underage and barely legal kids for dressing in inherently sexual clothing as dressing inappropriately, as well as young people wearing their literal pajamas in public. I’m sorry if I were a male teacher and my students were wearing Daisy Dukes shorts and sports bras by themselves, I would be uncomfortable. It is a child wearing clothing that is extremely revealing even for adults. School dress codes are about teaching kids how to dress in public. As my mom would say: 'Too many kids out here are dressing like ragamuffins.'"

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Internet

Millennials bond over these 16 'old people hills' they'd gladly die on

Long live skinny jeans, laptops for big purchases and using your blinker!

Photo credit: Canva

Maybe we're getting old, but that doesn't mean we're wrong.

There comes a point in every adult’s life when suddenly everything younger generations are doing seems baffling, if not downright annoying. You’re convinced that the ways things were done back in your day were better, and, of course, you’re gonna complain a bit.

And that’s when the harsher reality sets in—you’re old.

But don’t fret. After all, getting older is a gift not given to everyone. Plus, you won’t be alone in your grumblings. Especially when we’ve got the internet.

Recently, someone by the username @Thel200ster recently asked millennials on Reddit to name their “old person hill” they’d gladly die on.

The OP started with text message “reactions,” which have apparently ”gotten so out of hand.”

They continued, “Younger people I text seem to think you have to attach a reaction to every text message, be it a haha, a heart, a thumbs up, a !!, or what have you. It’s gotten to the point that I’m worried about people thinking I’m rude for not using them.

But they suck. My ‘reaction’ to your text message is my reply. It feels so reductive and Orwellian and I hate how limiting and canned these responses are. Back in my day we used words to communicate our feelings!”

Is this resonating just a bit? Congrats, you’re old! And there’s even more “old people hills” to die on where that came from.

Here are some of our faves:

1.“No, you cannot listen to music / videos / calls / whatever in public without headphones.” -u/Yman_j

u/ZelnormWow added:

“I so get why boomers hated GenX and their boom boxes now. Our lord and savior Sony Walkman did not come to earth and give his life so I have to listen to you watch the same 45 second TikTok on loop for 15 minutes.”



via GIPHY


2. “Social media was better when it only showed you relevant content from friends/followed pages, and allowed you to sort by most recent so your longest scrolling session would last 10-20 minutes.” -u/ Zonda1996

3. “New car headlights are too damn bright” -u/pnwerewolf

“My astigmatisms agree!!!” quipped u/Tiny_Independence761

On the subject of cars…

4. A car’s turn signal should ALWAYS be used to signal a turn. Yes, I’m talking about you Steve when you say ‘well I don’t see anyone around’ YOU DON’T KNOW THAT FOR SURE, STEVE.” -u/falconwolverine

5. “STOP SPEEDING IN NEIGHBORHOODS AND PUT YOUR DAMN PHONE DOWN!” -u/Typical80sKid


via GIPHY


6. “I hate downloading an ap for every frickin’ thing. I ain’t clogging up my phone just for 1 baseball game ticket. Email to me a PDF of my ticket yo.” -u/beekaybeegirl

u/BrokenLink100 added:

“I went to a restaurant once where they had the QR codes for menus. That doesn’t bother me as long as the online menu has been properly formatted for mobile devices. But this QR code took you to the Apple Store to download the restaurant’s app just so you could view the menu. I asked for a physical menu, and the waitress said “oh our menu is on our app!” Like it was a totally acceptable thing. We ended up going someplace else anyway.”

7. “Not everything needs to be recorded/photographed and posted online. Whether it’s for good, taking excessive vacation pictures or for bad, like recording arguments between strangers.” -u/Li-IonClub

“Your lips to God’s ears. I also feel passionately about this one. People need to come to grips with the fact that driving is BY FAR the most dangerous thing people do on a regular basis,” the OP commented.

8. “If I say something to you, I'd like an acknowledgement that you heard me.” -u/pie_12th


via GIPHY


9. “Manners. Manners go a long way. Having and using manners make you feel good. It is about respecting other humans beings and showing them that you do. It feels good to be polite, respectful, and generous. Manners are not disingenuous. They help others feel welcome, comfortable, appreciated, and at ease. Always use ‘please,’ ‘thank you,’ hold doors open for people. Acknowledge others, be considerate of other people. Wish others well. Don’t be afraid to smile first. Think of how your actions impact others. Think of the next person. Be kind. Help others feel appreciated for sharing this existence with you.” -u/Jocelyn_Jade

10. “I am not instantly available at any waking moment just because it is technically possible for me to see your message immediately on my electronic device. If we didn't have prior plans to be in contact, please allow 24-48 hours for response to all non-emergency communications.” -u/KuriousKhemicals

11. “I hate dealing with touchscreen keyboards. I don't think I'll ever be able to type on them nearly as fast as I can on a physical keyboard.” -u/lahdetaan_tutkimaan

Speaking of tech…

12. “Important stuff is reserved for laptops and computers. Booking a flight, studying for an exam, etc.” -u/ThatEmoNumbersNerd

13. “We do not need to follow every single trend we see on the internet.Just because it's a trend does not mean you must do it.No, you DON'T need the new expensive super big gulp metal cup that comes in an array of colors.No, you DON'T need to buy a bunch of clear plastic/glass containers to restock your fridge/pantry when food ALREADY comes in containers.No, you DON'T need make your home look like it came from a magazine or sad beige channel.No, you DON'T need a 100 step skincare routine.No, you DON'T need to get filler just because your face is maturing out of teen hood.Trends come and go, and thanks to our ever shortening attention spans, they go almost as soon as they come.Pretty soon, people will regret spending all their time and money on those trends and then move on to the next big trend that will leave them equally, if not more, unfulfilled.Just be happy with what you have.” -u/Spookybeagle

With similar gusto, u/Archeressrabbit wrote:

"Kiddo, you can't change your style every two weeks and attach core to a random buzzword. You need to look into your soul, your lifestyle, your likes and dislikes, and make boundaries about what goes on your body. I hate to go back in my day, but back in my day when we were goth, we only had the power of our imaginations and our DIY skills to create a look. We ripped fishnets, shredded jeans, raided Halloween stores army surplus and thrift stores, learned to sew, forgot to hem, held our clothes together with safety pins and hot glue, used white out on our combat boots, made our jewelry, used copious amounts of eyeliner and dyed our hair with kool-aid and splat. We made our styles ourselves. If we did buy something, we either had to save up for docs and Tripp pants, and God forbid you were Lolita because those dresses started at 500 dollars in those days."

Of course, millennial folks felt differently about their own clothing trends. -u/Notaninterestingcat declared “My black leggings will have to be pulled from my cold dead hands.”


via GIPHY


14. “Tips should be for sit down meals in restaurants only. I should not be asked to tip at random places like a clothing store or when I get my oil changed.” -u/New_Ad_7170

15. “Kids need to stop ‘diagnosing’ themselves with all sorts of mental health conditions…There is a reason why we have diagnostic criteria…So many kids I meet are self-diagnosing based on a 30-second TikTok they saw. Many 20-somethings I know are doing it as well.On a related note, the overuse and misuse of ‘therapy language’ also needs to stop…Like, come on.” - u/dribdrib

Lastly, but perhaps most important of all…

16. “The way that Gen Z makes hearts with their hands makes me deeply unsettled.” -u/TheRainbowConnection

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Pop Culture

Folks are admitting that Boomers weren’t totally wrong. Here are 19 things they got right.

OK, Boomer, you're right about this one.

via Patrick Lannigan/Flickr

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.

1. App exhaustion​

"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

2. Let kids play

"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

3. Pricey concerts

"Concert ticket pricing is too high. Once you get in a beer is $17!" — Whatabout-Dre

4. Tip creep

"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

5. Phones at concerts

"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

6. Kids online

"Social media is unhealthy and children shouldn't have unrestricted access to the internet." — horrorflowers

7. Lazy tablet parents

"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

8. Bring back knobs

"Touchscreens in cars suck." — sketchy_painting

9. Bad customer service

"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

10. Raising entitled kids

"The 'my kid is never wrong' attitude every parent seems to have now. And we wonder why there’s a teacher shortage." — Cinderjacket

11. Emojis in work emails

"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

12. Paper straws

"Paper straws suck." — JohnYCanuckEsq

13. Face tattoos

"Don't get tattoos on your face." — Disastrous-Aspect569

14. Gender reveals

"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

15. People are too sensitive

"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

16. TV sounds terrible

"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

17. Affordable housing

"Being able to afford a house." — The-Black-Douglas

18. Blinded by the lights

"Headlights are too damned bright now." — 15all

19. The people on your lawn

"Get off my lawn." — Disastrous_Motor_189

This article originally appeared on 8.30.23

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