“Young people always think they know everything!” Well, sometimes older people do too. And while it’s nice to receive some sage wisdom from Grandma or Grandpa, times are constantly changing, and they don’t always realize what a different world young people live in today.
Below, you’ll find a list of tweets that people from younger generations have shared, noting the least helpful advice they’ve ever gotten from Baby Boomers. Don’t get me wrong, I love my parents and grandparents with all of my heart, but I would rather ask them for gardening and baking advice than career advice… Enjoy scrolling through these tweets, and keep reading to find a conversation with Jean and Laura of the OK Boomer podcast!
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My Gen X parents said this all the time when I was being tormented by a boy in middle school. I cringe looking back on how many times they told me he probably liked me, or joked that I wasn't allowed to date him. I was a socially inept tween and he was a minor bully who found an easy target. I didn't need dating advice, I needed the jerk to not be sitting directly next to me in multiple classes.
Yeah, this would be indicative of a problem with that person today
Baby Boomers are the generation born between 1946 and 1964. They came along when the birth rate spiked following World War II and are now between 59-77 years old. As the longest-living generation in history thus far, Baby Boomers have been able to secure quite the legacy. They continue to hold substantial economic and political power, even as they age, and there’s no question that their life experience has allowed them to amass wisdom that can be beneficial for youths.
However, just because Baby Boomers know about many things doesn’t mean they know about everything. The world has changed drastically since they were born, and it can be difficult to keep up with rapidly changing technology and an ever-changing world as we grow older. Baby Boomers have been deemed the “gloomiest generation” by a Pew Research Center poll, and have been known to emphasize the importance of being goal oriented and having a strong work ethic. However, for some, this means maintaining the “American Dream,” which many younger adults have realized is much different today than it was 40 years ago.
I understand what this is saying, but can everyone just agree that living is hard and no one generation ever truly “had it easy”? We could just start working together now to try and fix it
The boomers had it the easiest. Their parents survived the global flu pandemic, the depression, and 2 world wars and vowed to make the world a better place so their children would never have to experience that suffering. Instead of punishing the Germans and Japanese and perpetrating the cycle of war, the world spent billions of dollars to rebuild. They created the middle class; unionized for fair wages; allowed them to become the first teenagers (word popularized in 1944 Time article) not expected to drop out of school and go to work; created the minimum wage; created the safety net of social security, medicare, VA, and food stamps; created the FHA, Freddie Mac, Fannie Mae, and Veterans Housing assistance to help as many as possible to buy a home; passed GI Bill, the National Defense Education Act and Higher Education Act to ensure every american had a chance at college; and formed the UN to attempt to stop war, poverty, and hunger. Most of those things are gone or going now.
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BS. We had nothing handed to us. The majority of us worked damn hard to provide for our families (you). And you are going to be grateful to inherit what little we have left after you inflate our life savings away.
Newer generations work equally as hard and get very little in return. What was handed to you was stability, knowing that if you worked hard you were almost certain to have a good life. Owning a house was not even a possibility, it was a certainty. Young people don't have that. That's what the handed to you means. Boomers live life on easy mode.
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How do you advise somebody to be born white and into a middle class. family? My white boomer dad grew up poor on a farm and worked long hours in a blue collar job to provide. Blame was something he would never let us lay on someone else if we were responsible and he lived by the same rule.
I mean, it IS the way to have the easiest life, right? But OP forgot to add straight, athletic and male to the list.
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Life is hard for most people. What you see are a few of the more successful people talking about it, but what you don’t see are the tons of other people who had to struggle to make anything.
And don't forget the ones who never helped their kids start their lives and didn't properly prepare them for life. Didn't teach kids about taxes or credit. Then got reverse mortgages so they leave nothing at all behind.
I think Life Skills should be taught in school. Some parents have no life skills at all.
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I beg your pardon, but most of us born in the post—war boom did NOT have everything handed to us, we did NOT make nothing of ourselves, we do NOT hoard resources, we do NOT squat in power (except for certain politicians), and we do NOT blame everyone else. Unfortunately, we do die, as OP will one day. Hopefully OP gets himself informed before he dies.
BS. You have never heard of the generational wealth gap? Inform yourself please.
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Instead of generational disagreement, we could use class war. The very wealthy, the corporations and the Right are hoovering up all the money, creating a new oligarchy.
My father walked out of HS and into a job at GM, he made huge money. they gambled it all away. They have lost two houses due to gambling and yet he still took an early retirement knowing that he didn't have any savings, believing his pension and his wife's disability would get them through the rest of their lives. He has nothing, he has had two bankruptcies, he has never paid off a thing in his life and yet for some reason he keeps getting credit handed to him. If that isn't white male boomer privilege I have no idea what is.
My mother (94) said "this is not my world" I (no) said "Mine either" My daughter (35+) said "it's not even mine".
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Baby boomers didn't get everything handed to them. They had to grow up quick, get a trade, live with little so that they could save and provide our generation with comforts we take for granted. They do the jobs our generation are too proud to do and worked years of grunt work to get themselves up the ladder where people nowadays expect to be a manager in a year because they have a sociology degree. And PLEASE stop the this should be higher comments even stating position. Its in order of up votes. If it actually should be higher it will be.
The big difference between the Boomer generation and millennials and gen Z, as it stands now, is that Boomers were actually *able* to save and provide their families with comfort. It is not possible for this generation to save money on the level that Boomers were, because the minimum wage has not been raised to be commensurate with inflation since the 1960's! This is a vastly different economic game than the Boomers experienced.
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Lol at all the boomers here defending themselves. Typical. They can't take criticism.
My mom is 81 and I think doctors are trying to make her immortal at this point. She's in better shape than I am.
67 yr old white female, grew up in lower middle class family. had to work for what i have. my first paying job was at age 14. went without extras in early adulthood to provide for our children. once they became adults, we had a little extra, but we saved most of it to retire early. hard work got us where we are today. retired at 55, traveling abroad, reaping the benefits of our hard work and budgeting.
Step 1. Squat in Power. Step 2. shame younger generations. Step 3 Repeat until dead. Step 4. leave nothing
Boomer years had a lot happen which is why all boomers aren't the same. 1949 - 1955 they were still prim and proper on the outside. 1956 -1962 rock and roll, the teens go wild! 1963-64 getting into some groovy stuff. The TV shows my sister grew up on were mostly B&W and very wholesome. The shows I saw were shallow.
There isn’t a single person I have ever met in my entire goddàmn life that would fit the age, race, or economic status of middle class that would say they had life “handed to them.” The whole fûcking point of the middle class is to show that hard work can lead to a better life (CAN not WILL, pay attention). If you have life handed to you, you likely aren’t what most people would say are middle class at all, despite definitions and classifications (since those don’t matter unless it fits a particular narrative).
Post war boom years were filled with psychotic people who were exceedingly violent drug addicts and alcoholics. They were having severe mental health problems as they were part of mass killings world wide. It was a fight for survival. Who knows what the world would have been like if the Allied armies lost. What is called housing then and what it is today are totally different things. I will be hated for this but think on it.
Wow! Wish I had ANY of my life handed to me! My family was considered middle class, but 1 income, 4 kids in private school and I don't know how my parents did it. We worked our asses off for our "white privilege!!"
Single income with 4 kids in private school. That's quite literally a privilege.
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on the bright side, their generation is finally starting to die off
There’s good times and bad times but there has never been a time where an entire generation had all struggle and want eliminated by the previous generation. This narrative that baby boomers lived some unearned utopia and squandered it away is tired and cringey. My white baby boomer parents and their siblings grew up poor. Some got out through hard work and others didn’t. The narrative also leans hard into fantasy so many seem to believe that at least someone out there understands the economy enough that they know where it’s going and exactly how to control it. We’re all just making our way. Even the winners.
That is so many prejudices in one sentence. So lets play a Game. "The winner takes it all" You were born white, in Europe as a Baby Boomer. Congratulation! But....Zonk. You are female. And your parents think a good education is wasted money. Because you will marry and be a stay home Mom. Specially in the catholic countrys. You were born white in the 60/70s, in Europe and... gay. Zonk. In many countrys a punishable offence. Like in the UK. Or Germany till 1994. Ups. Not good. You were borne white, but in East Germany. GDR. And your parents are not beloved by the regime. You will leave school after 10 years. Doesn´t matter how smart you are. Most likley you will work as a farm worker. You or a family member got cancer in the 80ths. Ups. No luck. No treatment. Even if you are rich as god. Is life easier today? No. If you are a woman and are living in certain parts in the world you will still get no education, get harresment. Same as a gay person.
Maybe you still don´t have access to medicine. Maybe you are get punished for the "wrong thinking" The system is the problem. Not the age or that someone is a little bit more lucky than you. See the big pictures. And than try to make the world a better place. Even if its frustrating some times. Thats my advice to the younger people.
Load More Replies... Dont always look through the US googles. It wasn´t fun to grew up white in chernobyl
Stop blaming baby boomers for your problems. Don't like it fix it. Its easier to back with perfect vision but dont look back using today's standards. For today's kids are going to be blaming past generations for their problems. It happens every generation. Look back and blame.
How about time travel? You could reset your whole life! (Be sure and do research to know who/what/where before pressing the buttons(?).Good luck, Asia you'll need it...
Eff this. Yes, I grew up out of poverty, no college debt. But interest rates for a house were 9.75% We had double-digit inflation. Guys got drafted, some went, some died. Big family meant no inheritance. No Internet, no good source of news from all over. Experience and age were preferred for jobs, now I don't get hired because I have white hair. Sexism was *even worse* than it is now, racism even more so. Most hourly jobs had no vacation pay, no sick pay. If you could get a union job or some other jobs, there might be pension $, I didn't get any 401K contribution til my 40s. People with leukemia died, also a lot of other treatable illnesses now. We got polio vax, but not measles, mumps, rubella, diphtheria, chicken pox; people had disabilities related to this. We're at risk for shingles because of chicken pox. Cars, bikes and playgrounds were a lot more dangerous, kids got hurt, people died in car crashes. It was uncommon to travel far, no GPS, just maps.
Love your world, enjoy the good, fight the bad.
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Can we stop arguing, Boomers had it better but that does not mean they had everything perfect, they did not all have it easy and they did not all cause the problems we face today, the problem is the loud minority of selfish and greedy people who aren't going to suffer the consequences of their actions.
I started mowing lawns at 8 years old and doing odd jobs until I worked 12-16 hour days for more than 30 years as an adult. I don't remember being handed anything.
I agree with Bob. I didn't get anything handed to me. Neither did my parents. There are greedy toads in every generation who eat the life force of anyone they can. I am currently suffering extensive abuse from a Millenial landlord who has all horrible qualities you ascribe to boomers.
While you might view the Baby Boomer generation fondly, if you, your parents or your grandparents are part of it, there are some people out there who aren’t the biggest fans of this older generation. We’ve all heard the “OK, Boomer” phrase, which punctuated social media during 2020 and 2021, often in response to older generations sharing conservative political views online. “In essence, the meme emerged as a shorthand for Gen Z to push back against accusations of being a ‘fragile’ generation unable to deal with hardship,” Crystal Abidin and Jing Zeng explain in a piece for the Conversation.
“‘OK Boomer’ is a consequence of existing intergenerational discord, not its cause,” Abidin and Zeng went on to explain. “Gen Z faces growing threats such as climate change, political unrest, and generational economic hardship. Memes like ‘OK Boomer’ are ways to express intergenerational everyday politics to consolidate a shared awareness of the perceived failure of the Boomers.”
I'm 60, ex-marine-engineer and I still sometimes buy Lego. It's therapy.
If you’re part of a younger generation, you may not be a fan of unsolicited advice from Boomers who don’t know what it’s like to be freshly out of university seeking a job nowadays. But of course, there are plenty of Boomers out there who aren’t out of touch. So to gain more insight on this topic, we reached out to a couple of our favorites: Jean Mader and Laura Bettinger of the award-winning OK Boomer podcast.
This was a problem for me many years ago for a short time when I was on unemployment. UE office has you fill out a form for each job application you place. You have to list who you spoke to and stuff like that. In other words - they assumed you are applying in person. But my field of work was in IT and IT type companies were early adaptors with the "apply online" stuff. I would like to think in 2023 they have caught up with the idea of online applications since it is so common now.
Jean and Laura created their show as a response to the famous phrase “OK Boomer,” which has become a dismissive act of ignoring a comment a Boomer says. “Instead of feeling upset or put off by eye rolls, we are here to gently remind Millennials and Boomers we are all OK! Let’s laugh and lean in together,” the hosts explain.
Every generation thinks the next generation is lazy. It’s a part of being human, apparently.
When asked about the topic of unwanted or toxic advice Boomers tend to give, Jean and Laura had a sense of humor. “You don’t want advice from the 1960’s? Really?” the hosts asked. “You get what you get, and you don’t get upset. Life is hard, get a helmet.”
“We’re just trying to help,” Jean and Laura noted. But if you don’t want their advice and simply want older generations to listen, the hosts are open to that too. “We can respect that!”
My father (76) insists that his method of getting a mortgage would work for us kids. He got his mortgage in 1970, for a $10,000 loan which was about 4 times his annual income by borrowing the deposit from his dad. That home is now worth about 20 times MY annual income and no bank in the land would loan on that. But sure, dad.
The amount of times my mother told me to work through my problems with my alcoholic now ex makes me want to vomit.
When it comes to what Jean and Laura want younger generations to understand about Boomers before dismissing or making fun of them, they told Bored Panda, “Give us grace with all of our tech traumas, challenges with the grocery store self-checkouts, and attempts to order DoorDash on a small phone with tiny print."
"Thank you for fixing our Wi-Fi and letting us share cute photos of you on Facebook," they added.
I work 2 jobs (maybe 60-65hrs a week) and my 78 YO grandpa told me I’m doing something wrong if I still can’t afford a new car and house with “two sources of income.” Love him to death but also told him to shut the truck up. This is how I afford to rent an apartment, drive a beater car, afford to house and spoil 2 cats and enjoy my life in small ways like Sunday morning waffles and camping trips and occasional treats like new towels or a nice new winter coat every 3-4 years.
That article that suggested lentils were a great alternative to meat to save money… (edit: I am definitely not knocking lentils, they are delicious. I am knocking the article, which was called, “ Inflation Stings Most If You Earn Less Than $300K. Here's How to Deal.” That is an enormous portion of the population, and their advice is just to switch to lentils and things like that lol)
“That’s how men are.” No, that’s how you allow them to be.
We also asked the Boomer ladies if they expect younger generations to adopt some of the behaviors and views that they often make fun of once they get older. “We can only hope… Just wait! What if your kids hate vegan? What if they come to your house for dinner and want a big juicy steak?” the hosts asked with a laugh. “See how you feel when your kids roll their eyes when they hear you reminisce about TikTok! And Threads and ChatGPT! And just wait until some snarks, ‘OK, Millennial!’ at you!”
Is she encouraging silently putting up with domestic abuse...? If so, that's messed up. Or is she referring to a toxic work environment? Even so, that's still messed up. O_O
But despite the resentment that some younger people hold towards Baby Boomers, Jean and Laura maintain a positive attitude. “We are all OK! Let’s lean in and laugh together,” they told Bored Panda.
If you’d like to hear more wise words from these ladies and hear some advice from Boomers that you actually will appreciate, be sure to listen to the OK Boomer podcast!
The 1970s was when Americans learned about things like serial killers. Stalking a coed just doesn't work as well in a world with Ted Bundy in the public consciousness.
I honestly question (privately) why my mother's parents got married. My grandmother has always complained about my grandfather - he was selfish, he expected her to do everything, he never helped with anything around the house even when she was sick... Looking back on it, she was from a desperately poor and dysfunctional family with a bunch of kids, an alcoholic father and a mother who supported all the children and his drinking habit as a waitress. My grandfather's family wasn't rich or anything, but they had a farm big enough to feed themselves from the garden and raise a few steer for meat, which they handed over to my grandparents when they retired to a smaller house. He worked at the local steel mill most of his life, in what was then a very good union job. It's hard not to wonder if she married him more for stability than love.
I love the Boomers in my life with all of my heart, but I know exactly which topics to avoid bringing up with my parents to ensure that our relationship remains healthy. We hope you’re enjoying these tweets, pandas, and be sure to upvote all of the ones you can relate to. Let us know in the comments what the best advice you’ve ever received from a Boomer was, and then if you want to check out a Bored Panda article discussing things Boomers are right about, look no further than right here!
When my grandparents bought their current car, they had to put my grandmother on the title for the first time ever, because she has a credit history and he's never used a credit card in his life. Don't know what they would've done if she hadn't embraced online shopping and needed the card. My grandfather's sole use for computers is playing Solitaire.
My aunts was - “ if you want to be rich and successful like me, finish school” . I told my mum when I got home and she laughed her a*s off cos that Aunty married an ‘old money’ guy she met in Fiji 😂
Hmm worst house in Beverly Hills…let’s just see what that comes in at… Oooo quite a lot actually
You know, I don’t have kids, but when I was younger, I guess I just assumed that all women just absolutely did not drink or smoke during pregnancy. I was very naïve, but the boomer generation probably knew significantly less than we do now about the impacts of this, so I am sure it was more prevalent (edit: reworded for clarity)
Not all Boomers are ignorant and unsympathetic. I feel very bad that so many younger people struggle so hard to find and pay for homes (it was no picnic in my day, either, but it's a lot tougher now). You know who's really to blame? The real estate industry: a bunch or race-track touts/urgers, who've been constantly pressing prices upwards for decades so as to maximise their commissions on sales.
“Obvious solution that solves nothing” = “Just throw a garage sale potluck rent-a-horse macramé party and you’ll be able to afford a new house in no time.”
Absolutely no! Nope, not correct... "You are not the only one..." isn't just a thing boomers say. It's universal. It's a thing said by many but has to be said properly - and heard properly too. Just saying, "You are not the only one..." isn't enough. It's only the introduction, it's the headline. "You are not the only one..." should be followed by relevant advice or guidance to a helpful source. Such as, "You are not the only one..." this has happened so much that they brought in a law change... this has happened so much that people have formed help groups and posted info on line; and so on.. But to hear this properly you can't just hear, "You are not the only one..." and then assume you've heard it all, you know what's coming next, and don't need to listen anymore. Instead either listen for the rest of what's being said, or ask them: "Ok so I'm not the only one. How did the others deal with this and what was their outcome?"
Eeehhh, I'm gonna agree a little with the "boomers" on this one. It's generally daily exercise that's recommended and it's not a cure-all but it definitely is helpful. It's not like it does nothing...
Not really. I have a pretty useless English degree from majoring in what I loved... Should have just got to massage therapy school from the get go. On one hand I had a lot of experiences I wouldn't have otherwise had, on the other I'm still paying loans my younger more naive self took out thinking of get a great job editing books right out the gate. Instead I ended up going back to become a massage therapist, which it turns out I'm pretty good at too. So yeah, not bad advice to be realistic about your major if you're going to school anyway.
Agreed, I gave up and just came down here to voice my frustration on the boomer bashing articles... again. Starting to find it almost offensive.
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This has to be one of the most spiteful articles I have read on BP. This isn't advice that's a bit weird, this is a bunch of people from a younger generation throwing venom at an older generation. I really didn't find anything positive or amusing about this, just an article full of hate. Pointless.
Well, people older than me have spouted this ineffective advice to me since birth. And still do. That I always followed that advice only to have the results go sideways? Yeah, a little pissy. Watched everything I was taught to do now can actually be a liability? FFS. About 8 years ago I was looking for a (3rd) job and went in and patiently waited for the manager to be free to enquire politely about an advertised job. Excoriated for wasting their time. Resume not even acknowledged even though I had 3 years direct experience.
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Most of this is not actual advice anyone has ever given, it's just idiots ranting and trying to blame someone else for their own incompetence and stupidity.
I'm pretty sure a lot of these are just lumping everyone older than a millennial into the baby boomer generation and forgetting that there's a whole generation in between.
Very true. Also lumping boomers in with older generations and not realizing that most of the things milletmeals, Gen Y and Gen Z blame on boomers goes back to before their time.
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More “us vs. them” on BP. It’s tiresome and these blanket judgments extend to age groups, geographic regions and economic brackets. I don’t understand it.
Gen X here - I just find it frustrating that the young people at my work expect everything to be given to them - they don't know something so they don't do it, they weren't shown this, so they don't do it. I've always worked hard and whenever I didn't know something I sought the answer out to better myself and the situation. I'm sick of them sitting on their arses and waiting for the world to come to them. I even got an earful for working on a Sunday because it made them feel like they should be doing more (we're well behind on our projects) and I should have timed my emails to be sent during working hours...WTF......I just want to get my job done and sometimes it takes a little extra. I don't work ridiculous hours but apparently an extra hour here or ththerthere deserves praise apparently...
I'm an X-er and my lived experiences are similar *except* today going the extra mile rarely gets you more than a larger workload without a raise. Rarely are employers recognizing go-getters and promoting from within with an eye towards keeping and training good talent. Rare as hens teeth anymore. If lucky enough to be able to take trainings that help leverage new, better job at another employer? Then grab it. Since the pennies are our wholly our masters now, most employers treat current employees like liabilities. New hires come in with less experience but are paid the same (or more!) as your multiple years exp but they're literally unwilling to give you a raise? And *so* many employers are willing to steal wages from any & all employees via back door wage theft, ignored labor laws and frequently hours kept just below benefits threshold? I've come to see where the attitude arises. Right now, going that extra mile often gets you mgmt that says cool, that means you can handle more!
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I was born in 1960. Technically that makes me a baby boomer. I find this c**p so offensive. People my age invented technology. I bought my first house in 2008 and lost it in 2015. Life has not been handed to me. And I have never heard anyone my age handing out that kind of c**p advice.
When are the younger generations going to rise up. I don't see young politicians with fresh ideas. I'm 55m and it makes me mad when elections come round looking the age of the candidates. I want to see younger generations with new ideas and know how to work a smart phone.
Mostly US related problems. Other countries and their inhabitants did and do a lot better.
There wasn't a financial boom in post-war Europe, most countries were heavily in debt (a lot owed money to the US), so those generations wouldn't have the same advice as they grew up in harder times. In general, younger generations in mainland Europe have it a lot easier nowadays, especially compared to their compatriots in the US.
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In every case the baby boomer advice is right and the comments display an attitude of winging. No wonder the people making the comments have trouble finding a job, if they take that attitude into the job interview.
I come from a poor family, and I started mowing lawns at 8 years old for 25 cents to help out the family. Shoveled snow in the winter for 10 cents for sidewalks and 25 cents for driveways to help support our family. Later I worked on farms for $1.25 an hour, fought fires for $2.35 an hour plus 15% hazard pay and then got my first real job paying $950 a month after spending several years in the military fighting for America. I worked full time and went to night school to get my degree and ended up doing alright in life, but it was due to my work ethic, not my whining about others.
I've never (until now) looked up what a Baby Boomer is. Just found out I'm in the age range. I'm so tired of stereotyping. In my head, I'm still a cheeky teenager that's trapped in an old body, and have no time or inclination to point fingers at others and stereotype them. 🙃
A lot of disconnects here. Not close to being a boomer but.... If you're having a financial problem, it's not going away if you don't save and cut out things you don't actually need. You can't consume yourself out of a consumer problem, but for some reason a lot of these people think they can. Consumerism can't solve your mental health either
Boomer vs Younger generation is good for corporations. Just like "They're coming to take your jobs!" and "If we raise pay, prices will skyrocket!" Yes, there are a lot of out-of-touch boomers... and younger people... but the corporations continue to make massive profits for the wealthy while suppressing wage value and affordability. Don't forget who is squeezing us all while getting wealthier.
Stop. It’s really not younger vs older generations. Everyone has it difficult, the problems just change and develop each generation.
Just keep on whining! Everyone is like "a house costs 10 times more now". Well guess what...you make 10 times more now. Things were just as hard then. Harder in some ways because they didn't have all the advances available now. Quit blaming everyone else.
But that's the point. You DON'T make ten times more now. Wages, especially at the low end, have totally failed to keep pace with housing prices.
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I guess it's easier to blame others, complain, try to excuse away, deflect with stories of those who live at the extreme spectrums, and general make out that you're being stepped on than do the one thing that a person should be doing about their own life. Take ownership of it and the responsibility for what they want/expect. The world is what you make of it. And the more I see rubbish like this, the more I feel the internet is decending into the toilet... Rapidly...
These people on both sides are being totally wrong. Boomers which I am one but boomers need to understand that times are totally different from now but millennials need to stop being so know it alls when they don't. There is 2 sides to every coin. Try understanding their side.
It was the generation BEFORE we baby boomers that caused (and still causes) many of the problems the US has. We boomers ended the Vietnam war and the draft, we fought (and some of us died) to gain civil rights, we dealt with AIDS, fought for LGTBQ rights and marriage equality, we started the EPA and that gave us cleaner air and water, we fought to get marijuana legalized, we got lead removed from gasoline and paint. The generation ahead of us started the war on drugs (which was only intended to destroy the anti-war and black communities- read John Ehrlichman's quote), deregulated banks, gave us trickle-on economics, granted Rupert Murdock citizenship so he could create Faux News, and loaded the SCOTUS with unqualified justices that are systematically rolling back those gains. We didn't win every battle but we tried and I love seeing that my daughter doesn't have to fight the battles that my sister and mother had. I love that GenX, GenZ, and Millenials are taking on the fight.
Why are we deliberately sowing warfare? Why do we have to pointing to this "generation vs generation" thing instead promoting conversation? I realize that my generation screwed up some stuff, and you're paying for it, but the same thing happened _to_ my generation. You think you have it rough? Try getting the same sort of advice from people who experienced life in the '50s and '60s.
One thing consistently missed is that without boomers they wouldn't be here. Meaning the internet.
Dearest Children: 1958 boomer here. Vocational school, then U.S.A.F (non aircraft) tech school, Aircraft mech school (A&P), picked up 250+ sem hrs at universities along the way and an Assoc deg and a BS in tech. . Excuse my amusement at your whining.
As a fifty-something, I can say that there is something to be learned from "experienced hindsight"... Which is something younger people (in general) lack... This does not mean that their current concerns and frustrations are unfounded. All of us alive at this moment in time are experiencing the economic crises in our respective places of residence together. Not in the same way, necessarily, but together...
Just love all these BP hate posts, this thread being the most vicious and bitter selection posted to date, and mostly fakes, btw
I am a couple of years away from being classed as being in the "boomer" bracket and I have never said any of theses things to my adult children. I am so very tired of this bracketing of generations and the constant bashing of the older or younger generations. Times have changed radically for all of us, advice from the older generation may well be inappropriate today (as was my grandparents advice was to me), as may the current generations advice will be for future generations. It would be most excellent to live in peace with all generations and take any advice given as and when appropriate for yourself. Some advice is very sage, whatever the age is of the giver.
I am a couple of years away from being classed as in the "boomer" bracket and I have never said any of theses things to my adult children. I am so very tired of this bracketing of generations and the constant bashing of the older or younger generations. Times have changed radically for all of us, advice from the older generation may well be inappropriate today, as will the current generations advice will be for future generations. It would be most excellent to live in peace with all generations and take any advice given as and when appropriate for yourself.
Are we missing out on any ways to label and divide ourselves? Gender, generation, political leaning and race are all in full swing. Maybe we can start bitching at each other over our favorite flavor of ice cream? You chocolate lovers are RIDICULOUS, I swear! 🙄
You can't just paint one generation with one wide swath of the brush. Each group has its share of really great people and complete idiots. Focus on kind people and ignore/avoid the hateful ones
all i know is i dont take advice from anyone who hasnt taken to the streets against oppression. much better way to classify people
Gen X marriage advice - You're crazy, everyone else is also crazy. Just find the flavor of crazy you can tolerate = bliss.
Did you make all of this stuff up? Literally no one says these things. How dare you.
Yeah people who are not boomers, don't fall for this pitting of generations against each other. Yes often parents are clueless about current reality and that is a given - mine were and I'm a Boomer.
my son and i both have the same mental health issue. i also have depression and anxiety on top of it. there is medication that helps but it doesnt cure it. it wont ever just go away. my boomer MIL has literally told me in front of my son that "if you just try hard enough to make up your mind not to have (the condition) anymore, it will go away." that is not how mental health works, Karen.
Meanwhile, my Gen X axx is just watching all this, eating popcorn and thinking "whatever."
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List of Boomer Icons who ARE NOT BOOMERS: John Lennon, Jimi Hendrix, Harrison Ford, Clint Eastwood, Sean Connery, Elizabeth Taylor. How about the star of The Graduate, an absolutely iconic boomer movie, Dustin Hoffman. Nope sorry, born in '37. Easy Rider? Nope Peter Fonda, Dennis Hopper and Jack Nicholson were all pre war babies. I'm done giving credit to boomers for things they didn't do.
As an X l'm a bit tired of both boomers and millennials. Can you just sign a truce or something?
The maths is easy enough. John Lennon was 40 when he died in 1980, making him a war baby. Simple.
Load More Replies... Agreed, I gave up and just came down here to voice my frustration on the boomer bashing articles... again. Starting to find it almost offensive.
Load More Replies... This has to be one of the most spiteful articles I have read on BP. This isn't advice that's a bit weird, this is a bunch of people from a younger generation throwing venom at an older generation. I really didn't find anything positive or amusing about this, just an article full of hate. Pointless.
Well, people older than me have spouted this ineffective advice to me since birth. And still do. That I always followed that advice only to have the results go sideways? Yeah, a little pissy. Watched everything I was taught to do now can actually be a liability? FFS. About 8 years ago I was looking for a (3rd) job and went in and patiently waited for the manager to be free to enquire politely about an advertised job. Excoriated for wasting their time. Resume not even acknowledged even though I had 3 years direct experience.
Load More Replies... Most of this is not actual advice anyone has ever given, it's just idiots ranting and trying to blame someone else for their own incompetence and stupidity.
I'm pretty sure a lot of these are just lumping everyone older than a millennial into the baby boomer generation and forgetting that there's a whole generation in between.
Very true. Also lumping boomers in with older generations and not realizing that most of the things milletmeals, Gen Y and Gen Z blame on boomers goes back to before their time.
Load More Replies... More “us vs. them” on BP. It’s tiresome and these blanket judgments extend to age groups, geographic regions and economic brackets. I don’t understand it.
Gen X here - I just find it frustrating that the young people at my work expect everything to be given to them - they don't know something so they don't do it, they weren't shown this, so they don't do it. I've always worked hard and whenever I didn't know something I sought the answer out to better myself and the situation. I'm sick of them sitting on their arses and waiting for the world to come to them. I even got an earful for working on a Sunday because it made them feel like they should be doing more (we're well behind on our projects) and I should have timed my emails to be sent during working hours...WTF......I just want to get my job done and sometimes it takes a little extra. I don't work ridiculous hours but apparently an extra hour here or ththerthere deserves praise apparently...
I'm an X-er and my lived experiences are similar *except* today going the extra mile rarely gets you more than a larger workload without a raise. Rarely are employers recognizing go-getters and promoting from within with an eye towards keeping and training good talent. Rare as hens teeth anymore. If lucky enough to be able to take trainings that help leverage new, better job at another employer? Then grab it. Since the pennies are our wholly our masters now, most employers treat current employees like liabilities. New hires come in with less experience but are paid the same (or more!) as your multiple years exp but they're literally unwilling to give you a raise? And *so* many employers are willing to steal wages from any & all employees via back door wage theft, ignored labor laws and frequently hours kept just below benefits threshold? I've come to see where the attitude arises. Right now, going that extra mile often gets you mgmt that says cool, that means you can handle more!
Load More Replies... I was born in 1960. Technically that makes me a baby boomer. I find this c**p so offensive. People my age invented technology. I bought my first house in 2008 and lost it in 2015. Life has not been handed to me. And I have never heard anyone my age handing out that kind of c**p advice.
When are the younger generations going to rise up. I don't see young politicians with fresh ideas. I'm 55m and it makes me mad when elections come round looking the age of the candidates. I want to see younger generations with new ideas and know how to work a smart phone.
Mostly US related problems. Other countries and their inhabitants did and do a lot better.
There wasn't a financial boom in post-war Europe, most countries were heavily in debt (a lot owed money to the US), so those generations wouldn't have the same advice as they grew up in harder times. In general, younger generations in mainland Europe have it a lot easier nowadays, especially compared to their compatriots in the US.
Load More Replies... In every case the baby boomer advice is right and the comments display an attitude of winging. No wonder the people making the comments have trouble finding a job, if they take that attitude into the job interview.
I come from a poor family, and I started mowing lawns at 8 years old for 25 cents to help out the family. Shoveled snow in the winter for 10 cents for sidewalks and 25 cents for driveways to help support our family. Later I worked on farms for $1.25 an hour, fought fires for $2.35 an hour plus 15% hazard pay and then got my first real job paying $950 a month after spending several years in the military fighting for America. I worked full time and went to night school to get my degree and ended up doing alright in life, but it was due to my work ethic, not my whining about others.
I've never (until now) looked up what a Baby Boomer is. Just found out I'm in the age range. I'm so tired of stereotyping. In my head, I'm still a cheeky teenager that's trapped in an old body, and have no time or inclination to point fingers at others and stereotype them. 🙃
A lot of disconnects here. Not close to being a boomer but.... If you're having a financial problem, it's not going away if you don't save and cut out things you don't actually need. You can't consume yourself out of a consumer problem, but for some reason a lot of these people think they can. Consumerism can't solve your mental health either
Boomer vs Younger generation is good for corporations. Just like "They're coming to take your jobs!" and "If we raise pay, prices will skyrocket!" Yes, there are a lot of out-of-touch boomers... and younger people... but the corporations continue to make massive profits for the wealthy while suppressing wage value and affordability. Don't forget who is squeezing us all while getting wealthier.
Stop. It’s really not younger vs older generations. Everyone has it difficult, the problems just change and develop each generation.
Just keep on whining! Everyone is like "a house costs 10 times more now". Well guess what...you make 10 times more now. Things were just as hard then. Harder in some ways because they didn't have all the advances available now. Quit blaming everyone else.
But that's the point. You DON'T make ten times more now. Wages, especially at the low end, have totally failed to keep pace with housing prices.
Load More Replies... I guess it's easier to blame others, complain, try to excuse away, deflect with stories of those who live at the extreme spectrums, and general make out that you're being stepped on than do the one thing that a person should be doing about their own life. Take ownership of it and the responsibility for what they want/expect. The world is what you make of it. And the more I see rubbish like this, the more I feel the internet is decending into the toilet... Rapidly...
These people on both sides are being totally wrong. Boomers which I am one but boomers need to understand that times are totally different from now but millennials need to stop being so know it alls when they don't. There is 2 sides to every coin. Try understanding their side.
It was the generation BEFORE we baby boomers that caused (and still causes) many of the problems the US has. We boomers ended the Vietnam war and the draft, we fought (and some of us died) to gain civil rights, we dealt with AIDS, fought for LGTBQ rights and marriage equality, we started the EPA and that gave us cleaner air and water, we fought to get marijuana legalized, we got lead removed from gasoline and paint. The generation ahead of us started the war on drugs (which was only intended to destroy the anti-war and black communities- read John Ehrlichman's quote), deregulated banks, gave us trickle-on economics, granted Rupert Murdock citizenship so he could create Faux News, and loaded the SCOTUS with unqualified justices that are systematically rolling back those gains. We didn't win every battle but we tried and I love seeing that my daughter doesn't have to fight the battles that my sister and mother had. I love that GenX, GenZ, and Millenials are taking on the fight.
Why are we deliberately sowing warfare? Why do we have to pointing to this "generation vs generation" thing instead promoting conversation? I realize that my generation screwed up some stuff, and you're paying for it, but the same thing happened _to_ my generation. You think you have it rough? Try getting the same sort of advice from people who experienced life in the '50s and '60s.
One thing consistently missed is that without boomers they wouldn't be here. Meaning the internet.
Dearest Children: 1958 boomer here. Vocational school, then U.S.A.F (non aircraft) tech school, Aircraft mech school (A&P), picked up 250+ sem hrs at universities along the way and an Assoc deg and a BS in tech. . Excuse my amusement at your whining.
As a fifty-something, I can say that there is something to be learned from "experienced hindsight"... Which is something younger people (in general) lack... This does not mean that their current concerns and frustrations are unfounded. All of us alive at this moment in time are experiencing the economic crises in our respective places of residence together. Not in the same way, necessarily, but together...
Just love all these BP hate posts, this thread being the most vicious and bitter selection posted to date, and mostly fakes, btw
I am a couple of years away from being classed as being in the "boomer" bracket and I have never said any of theses things to my adult children. I am so very tired of this bracketing of generations and the constant bashing of the older or younger generations. Times have changed radically for all of us, advice from the older generation may well be inappropriate today (as was my grandparents advice was to me), as may the current generations advice will be for future generations. It would be most excellent to live in peace with all generations and take any advice given as and when appropriate for yourself. Some advice is very sage, whatever the age is of the giver.
I am a couple of years away from being classed as in the "boomer" bracket and I have never said any of theses things to my adult children. I am so very tired of this bracketing of generations and the constant bashing of the older or younger generations. Times have changed radically for all of us, advice from the older generation may well be inappropriate today, as will the current generations advice will be for future generations. It would be most excellent to live in peace with all generations and take any advice given as and when appropriate for yourself.
Are we missing out on any ways to label and divide ourselves? Gender, generation, political leaning and race are all in full swing. Maybe we can start bitching at each other over our favorite flavor of ice cream? You chocolate lovers are RIDICULOUS, I swear! 🙄
You can't just paint one generation with one wide swath of the brush. Each group has its share of really great people and complete idiots. Focus on kind people and ignore/avoid the hateful ones
all i know is i dont take advice from anyone who hasnt taken to the streets against oppression. much better way to classify people
Gen X marriage advice - You're crazy, everyone else is also crazy. Just find the flavor of crazy you can tolerate = bliss.
Did you make all of this stuff up? Literally no one says these things. How dare you.
Yeah people who are not boomers, don't fall for this pitting of generations against each other. Yes often parents are clueless about current reality and that is a given - mine were and I'm a Boomer.
my son and i both have the same mental health issue. i also have depression and anxiety on top of it. there is medication that helps but it doesnt cure it. it wont ever just go away. my boomer MIL has literally told me in front of my son that "if you just try hard enough to make up your mind not to have (the condition) anymore, it will go away." that is not how mental health works, Karen.
Meanwhile, my Gen X axx is just watching all this, eating popcorn and thinking "whatever."
This comment is hidden. Click here to view.
Load More Replies... List of Boomer Icons who ARE NOT BOOMERS: John Lennon, Jimi Hendrix, Harrison Ford, Clint Eastwood, Sean Connery, Elizabeth Taylor. How about the star of The Graduate, an absolutely iconic boomer movie, Dustin Hoffman. Nope sorry, born in '37. Easy Rider? Nope Peter Fonda, Dennis Hopper and Jack Nicholson were all pre war babies. I'm done giving credit to boomers for things they didn't do.
As an X l'm a bit tired of both boomers and millennials. Can you just sign a truce or something?
The maths is easy enough. John Lennon was 40 when he died in 1980, making him a war baby. Simple.
Load More Replies...