“Boomer” Dad Shares His Perspective On Today’s Labor Issues In The US, A Lot Of People Agree
Talking politics over the breakfast or dinner table may not be the best idea when you’re at your parents’ house. But many of us did, and burnt and promised ourselves this would not happen again until the next time we ate together. Christmas holidays are notorious for this kind of thing, and I’ll just leave it there to not put salt on the wound.
But recently, the Redditor The_regal_retard posted a pretty surprising opinion her 72-year-old dad, who’s a retired school teacher, shared with her one morning. Captioned with the headline “My boomer dad shared his unsolicited view on labor issues in the US at breakfast this morning,” her post went viral, immediately amassing 21.2k upvotes.
And taking the generational differences into account, you would have never expected the “baby boomer” to share similar views with millennials. This story may well show how much prejudice we have when judging others’ views before even giving them a chance to be listened to. Read on for the full post below, which will give us all some illuminating thoughts to reflect upon.
Recently, a daughter shared her 72-year-old dad’s views on labor problems in the US and it left everyone surprised
Image credits: Nenad Stojkovic (not the actual photo)
She then added a couple of updates to give everyone more background information about her post
Many people shared how pleasantly surprised they were to see this was a boomer’s opinion
And this is what others commented 
96Kviews
Share on Facebook
Now it all makes sense why I didn't do well in school and feel so frustrated and stressed. I need to think creatively and question things, and I love problem solving and using my brain. I was actually told "You're not paid to think." at my job that does involve thinking. This could also be why so many kids are increasingly diagnosed with mild learning disorders and delays. If you have to call it a "delay" then maybe it's not the kid that has the problem.
I'm living in Germany, working as a chef for a hotel-chain. Full time, what means 39 hours/week. Yearly, my monthly brutto wage raises automatically with 5%. Every November we get a plus month salary as Christmas-bonus. Every year in June and December we get a share-bonus, 10-10% of our yearly wages. If one have to work on official holidays, it's a double pay for that day and a plus day off, for Sundays-working is a +20% in money. Yeah, everything is relative, so let's see what can I afford with my salary? I'm living in the South part of the country, in a 200.000 pop Uni-town. 40% of salary is going to living costs: 1-room apartment rent, bills. From 30% of my salary I can afford to buy things without to have rigorously check the prices...but anyway, I'm checking ;). 30% I can spare. I have yearly 30 days holidays-time, what means 1,5 month holidays. I don't have to panic, if I need healthcare treatment, because my (and others) taxes will cover the costs. Just saying....
It's great that younger generations are taking up the leftist cause, but it's pretty annoying when they express "surprise" at older folks having some of the same ideas. It's not like milennials or Gen Z invented this stuff. Critiques of capitalism have been around since the birth of capitalism, and critiques of power structures have been around forever. Let's have a little humility here.
Some of them. Others are joining and running fascist parties. It sure as hell isn't Gen X and baby boomers you see at those proud boy marches
Load More Replies...
I think a change has occurred again in our education system, because I tried to help a friends daughter with her math homework, and I didn't understand it at all. Apparently the way we used to do basic math has changed, and it's alien to me now.
Been that way for decades. Anyone remember "New Math"?
Load More Replies...
When I was in school, US History was a requirement for graduation. I was excited to take the course...until I discovered that the football coach was teaching it. And I use the term "teaching" lightly. He spent class time reading from the textbook. Homework always consisted of answering the questions at the end of each chapter. There was absolutely no discussion of why and how, only memorization of who, what, when, and where. Also, no discussion of the European History that led to the formation of the American colonies. It wasn't until college that critical thinking and problem solving were involved, so it makes sense that people who didn't go to college lack those skills...they were never taught those skills.
"Work and pray, live on hay, you'll get pie in the sky when you die." Just another lie to keep us obedient sheep.
I love your dad too. It's so refreshing to have such a wise and informed view of what happened. This was wholesome and also very informative.
It’s sad that that’s refreshing. It’s a pretty top line common sense stuff, really. Just shows how low the bar has dropped
Load More Replies...
Do you want "Metropolis" drones or thinkers and innovators? (See: 1927 film Metropolis. Still relevant.)
If you take people with the same intelligence, one has experienced western educational systems, the other village life (learning by example, individual and one on one teaching with hands on training) guess who does the industrial line work better? I mean, coming in on time, standing in line and doing a task repeatedly? This is NOT from the Cold War, this is from industrialization. Pioneer kids or village kids (rural) are not useful for doing line work, you want someone who has had at least elementary school learning or Indian School (think abduction of Native children) training.
What exactly do you know about the life in countries behind the Iron Curt? Because I was born and raised in one of them till the Curtain went down in December 1989. And it was a country, whose leader was adopting the North-Korean model, installing a dictatorship, what nowdays you can witness in North-Korea from the son of dictator, what inspired ours.
Load More Replies...
All my boomer neighbours have deliberately made my life difficult. There js a lot of talk of how entitled millenials are but boomers are thr truly entitled ones, including my parents. I find their entitlement shocking. They always tell people to do things and are surprised when they person doesn't obey. There js a channel on YT, David Hoffman, he is a boomer and he has some interesting content, where you see boomer life from all angles.
I'm 69 and this is the first time I've ever thought about when that began but it coincides with my ever-increasing disenchantment with school until, in the 11th grade, I dropped out. Because of a fluke in the timing and my age I was able to take the GED and started college when the rest of my grade was starting their senior (12th & final in the US) year. I hadn't been challenged educationally in years and it was like finding an oasis in a desert.
I'm 73, and I fought for freedom, equality, independence and sustainability all my life, but I get dismissed as one of the villains now.
This is how we Boomers were educated how to conform but you have to be an asshole like me to burst out of conformity an do a job you like no matter what the pay - I personally don't think a Nurse should et less money than a guy in a Ford motor plant who tightens a few screws with a powered screwdriver! People don't know what nurses really do!
Fully agree and understand how our schools have lost their way. That being said, how are they racist?
My AP European History teacher pointed this out to us in 11th grade. Pass your paper to the right. Boom, trained for assembly lines. The bell dismissed you. Boom, trained for the factory whistle. Once she pointed out I saw that school is about training for people who can't afford higher education to accept and endure bad jobs. College is now all about gatekeeping; if you can't afford it you're trapped at the bottom because even entry level basic jobs want that degree now. My brother majored in music with a minor in composition. He was hired at a Verizon call center. How did his degree make him "eligible" for a job that he was trained to do? It didn't. It just ensured he was "the right kind of person."
Every 4 years you get a chance to vote. But rather than supporting the person who values you want eg healthcare you always vote along the sheep lines. Stop crying about it and support into government someone who's views you support. Stop blaming everyone else.
I'm a boomer. A very good chunk of this is filled with blind acceptance of assumptions and erroneous conclusions resulting from them. Which is understandable as he is her father. But... the earliest he could have been teaching would have been the mid-1970s. He'd have no first-hand knowledge of educational conditions of the early 50s... except as a 10-11 year old student in 5-6 grade.
I know what you Mean. just like WW2. Will we ever know how it turned out or what it was like? If only they had kept records, left artifacts or maybe if we could speak with people who went through it. Guess we will never know anything about it. Such a mystery.
Load More Replies...
Now it all makes sense why I didn't do well in school and feel so frustrated and stressed. I need to think creatively and question things, and I love problem solving and using my brain. I was actually told "You're not paid to think." at my job that does involve thinking. This could also be why so many kids are increasingly diagnosed with mild learning disorders and delays. If you have to call it a "delay" then maybe it's not the kid that has the problem.
I'm living in Germany, working as a chef for a hotel-chain. Full time, what means 39 hours/week. Yearly, my monthly brutto wage raises automatically with 5%. Every November we get a plus month salary as Christmas-bonus. Every year in June and December we get a share-bonus, 10-10% of our yearly wages. If one have to work on official holidays, it's a double pay for that day and a plus day off, for Sundays-working is a +20% in money. Yeah, everything is relative, so let's see what can I afford with my salary? I'm living in the South part of the country, in a 200.000 pop Uni-town. 40% of salary is going to living costs: 1-room apartment rent, bills. From 30% of my salary I can afford to buy things without to have rigorously check the prices...but anyway, I'm checking ;). 30% I can spare. I have yearly 30 days holidays-time, what means 1,5 month holidays. I don't have to panic, if I need healthcare treatment, because my (and others) taxes will cover the costs. Just saying....
It's great that younger generations are taking up the leftist cause, but it's pretty annoying when they express "surprise" at older folks having some of the same ideas. It's not like milennials or Gen Z invented this stuff. Critiques of capitalism have been around since the birth of capitalism, and critiques of power structures have been around forever. Let's have a little humility here.
Some of them. Others are joining and running fascist parties. It sure as hell isn't Gen X and baby boomers you see at those proud boy marches
Load More Replies... I think a change has occurred again in our education system, because I tried to help a friends daughter with her math homework, and I didn't understand it at all. Apparently the way we used to do basic math has changed, and it's alien to me now.
Been that way for decades. Anyone remember "New Math"?
Load More Replies... When I was in school, US History was a requirement for graduation. I was excited to take the course...until I discovered that the football coach was teaching it. And I use the term "teaching" lightly. He spent class time reading from the textbook. Homework always consisted of answering the questions at the end of each chapter. There was absolutely no discussion of why and how, only memorization of who, what, when, and where. Also, no discussion of the European History that led to the formation of the American colonies. It wasn't until college that critical thinking and problem solving were involved, so it makes sense that people who didn't go to college lack those skills...they were never taught those skills.
"Work and pray, live on hay, you'll get pie in the sky when you die." Just another lie to keep us obedient sheep.
I love your dad too. It's so refreshing to have such a wise and informed view of what happened. This was wholesome and also very informative.
It’s sad that that’s refreshing. It’s a pretty top line common sense stuff, really. Just shows how low the bar has dropped
Load More Replies... Do you want "Metropolis" drones or thinkers and innovators? (See: 1927 film Metropolis. Still relevant.)
If you take people with the same intelligence, one has experienced western educational systems, the other village life (learning by example, individual and one on one teaching with hands on training) guess who does the industrial line work better? I mean, coming in on time, standing in line and doing a task repeatedly? This is NOT from the Cold War, this is from industrialization. Pioneer kids or village kids (rural) are not useful for doing line work, you want someone who has had at least elementary school learning or Indian School (think abduction of Native children) training.
What exactly do you know about the life in countries behind the Iron Curt? Because I was born and raised in one of them till the Curtain went down in December 1989. And it was a country, whose leader was adopting the North-Korean model, installing a dictatorship, what nowdays you can witness in North-Korea from the son of dictator, what inspired ours.
Load More Replies... All my boomer neighbours have deliberately made my life difficult. There js a lot of talk of how entitled millenials are but boomers are thr truly entitled ones, including my parents. I find their entitlement shocking. They always tell people to do things and are surprised when they person doesn't obey. There js a channel on YT, David Hoffman, he is a boomer and he has some interesting content, where you see boomer life from all angles.
I'm 69 and this is the first time I've ever thought about when that began but it coincides with my ever-increasing disenchantment with school until, in the 11th grade, I dropped out. Because of a fluke in the timing and my age I was able to take the GED and started college when the rest of my grade was starting their senior (12th & final in the US) year. I hadn't been challenged educationally in years and it was like finding an oasis in a desert.
I'm 73, and I fought for freedom, equality, independence and sustainability all my life, but I get dismissed as one of the villains now.
This is how we Boomers were educated how to conform but you have to be an asshole like me to burst out of conformity an do a job you like no matter what the pay - I personally don't think a Nurse should et less money than a guy in a Ford motor plant who tightens a few screws with a powered screwdriver! People don't know what nurses really do!
Fully agree and understand how our schools have lost their way. That being said, how are they racist?
My AP European History teacher pointed this out to us in 11th grade. Pass your paper to the right. Boom, trained for assembly lines. The bell dismissed you. Boom, trained for the factory whistle. Once she pointed out I saw that school is about training for people who can't afford higher education to accept and endure bad jobs. College is now all about gatekeeping; if you can't afford it you're trapped at the bottom because even entry level basic jobs want that degree now. My brother majored in music with a minor in composition. He was hired at a Verizon call center. How did his degree make him "eligible" for a job that he was trained to do? It didn't. It just ensured he was "the right kind of person."
Every 4 years you get a chance to vote. But rather than supporting the person who values you want eg healthcare you always vote along the sheep lines. Stop crying about it and support into government someone who's views you support. Stop blaming everyone else.
I'm a boomer. A very good chunk of this is filled with blind acceptance of assumptions and erroneous conclusions resulting from them. Which is understandable as he is her father. But... the earliest he could have been teaching would have been the mid-1970s. He'd have no first-hand knowledge of educational conditions of the early 50s... except as a 10-11 year old student in 5-6 grade.
I know what you Mean. just like WW2. Will we ever know how it turned out or what it was like? If only they had kept records, left artifacts or maybe if we could speak with people who went through it. Guess we will never know anything about it. Such a mystery.
Load More Replies...
101
39