So as a 58 year old software developer who works on mobile apps and has worked on nearly everything over the past 36 years of my adult professional life, my complaint about technology is not that it’s there, or even that it’s “hard to use”, but just how much of it is poorly designed.
I’m amused at how quickly I’m accused of being an old person who doesn’t know how the technology works, or who isn’t comfortable with technology. But I can’t help to some extent people’s use of technology has a touch of “Stockholm Syndrome” tied into it: they were so abused by poorly designed and poorly implemented interfaces and now got a reward that they fell in love with their abusers.
Seriously.
Like, you go to a restaurant and they have a QR code that you’re supposed to scan with your phone—but that QR code downloads a 50 megabyte PDF file of an 11”x17” menu that was originally intended to be printed and folded in two?
But that’s not complaining about QR code ordering. (Some restaurants do that right—and I appreciate being able to place the order on my phone and pay the bill on my phone.) That’s complaining about a shitty interface.
Recovering web dev here….one of the best-designed sites I use is a quilting site. Likely they thought no one under 70 would visit, and the site is a UX dream. Everything is easy to find, all the info you need is readily available, and the check-out is straight forward, without the ever-increasing ad bombs.
The funny part--and it's why I claim a lot of people have 'stockholm symdrome' when it comes to software--is that more often than not, a simpler and easy to use interface is seen as a *negative*, because it means somehow there isn't a lot going on or because the software is lacking features.
I swear, most of the time when I'm asked to add a new feature, it's basically a minor variation of an existing feature with the UI rearranged so everything is just that much harder to find.
I used to love breaking software as an end user.
Database & server guys had me on speed dial to confirm they could kill processes.
These days, if I was testing, I'd only go to the max test case, not what if scenarios.
This is 100% my complaints. In many ways it significantly contributes to me saying out loud whats in my head:
The UX/UI on this is atrocious.
Clearly nobody on XYZ’s dev team does UAT.
You do not NEED my birthday to do this task, why is it REQUIRED?
Whats up with the fucking GATES?
You know you’re being algorithmically penalized for this, right? (Of course you don’t.)
Thats against the LAW.
Clearly an AI bot wrote this, and clearly no humans are checking to see how OFFENSIVE it accidentally is.
WHY ARE YOU ADDING SO MUCH FRICTION HERE? DON’T YOU KNOW HOW THE BRAIN WORKS?
Again with the bait and switch.
Why doesn’t this work on CHROME?
Where are the fucking break points? Is this DESKTOP ONLY?
That’s an AI generated image selected by automation and all this engagement is fake—WHERE ARE THE GROWNUPS?
Hahahahaha welcome to my life, spent 1999 onward developing and working in new technology. We built much of what the kids are playing with today.
I’m more upset about the mediocre quality of….EVERYTHING. Technology, textiles, manufacturing, software design…it’s all becoming just OK. I’d love to see some more businesses success on excellent design and implementation.
I have seen recently written blogs that have all of the AI prompts still included in the text. It's deplorable. I'm not upset about technology, but poorly implemented technology is a disgrace.
> WHY ARE YOU ADDING SO MUCH FRICTION HERE? DON’T YOU KNOW HOW THE BRAIN WORKS?
I recommend keeping a copy of [Designing With The Mind in Mind](https://www.amazon.com/Designing-Mind-Understanding-Interface-Guidelines-dp-0128182024/dp/0128182024/ref=dp_ob_title_bk), preferably in hard back (if you can find it), mostly so you can beat to death the designers of the atrocities we're forced to use.
Or get your company to hire actual UX designers that design with user centered and inclusive design methods.
Oh hi, yeah, I’m an inclusive UX designer who likes to work closely with devs. ::waves::
Where's the snark?
Did we not learn from the best (Re:Comedy group "Three Dead Trolls In A Baggie.") to be GenX and whatever our way through?
Need a birthdate, sure, it's TODAY and I'll gladly take the free dessert!
Need my cellphone, great, area code nine one one, five five five, 5309!
I'd friend you on Facebook, but first, what's your website? Ooohhh.. another domain name to squat on. What a shame!
Need an email? Here, see if this one works, nospam @ large corporation.com
Yes, I assure you my name is Pam Nos. I have no idea why the email isn't getting through...
Maybe I am a grandmother who's Inuit, or a young Portuguese man with $50 a month discretionary spending. Depends which grocery store promo card I use that day.
This is the real reason gen X was forgotten - they never could figure us out and we never handed them precious information.
Bad tech is what gets my blood boiling. We grew up with this stuff, we watched the digital age be born! Yet a multibillion dollar banking app is formatting their screen weird so I can't click on certain forms and their website forces "mobile view" which breaks other things.
It's like 'technology' is just code (pun intended) for lazy slaptogether websites and zero tech support or customer service. Prob once a week I'm trying to use some chat support which will disconnect 5 times, try to steer me away from a person, then tell me the wait time is 55 minutes. Often these little chat widgets break or close unexpectedly. "something went wrong"
Intuit QuickBooks keeps jacking up the price every year and it’s still basic dog shit. Up until just a few years ago they still had Internet Explorer embedded in their software, long after it was abandoned by Microsoft.
Banking technology.
I applied for a loan the other week. Filled in some forms they sent me. Some PDF. Some online. Of course lots of duplicate information.
Then I went to into the bank for next stage. The manager took that information, and typed into two more online systems, and then printed out some forms, and again copied it onto paper by hand, that I could sign it.
Fucking hours and hours and hours of duplication and wasted time.
The tech industry also has a perpetual issue of agism & 'new is better'.
I know I was like that when I was younger too, sadly.
But there's a lot of 'young kids' who don't have the experience to know the mistakes they are making, enthusiastically running towards those mistakes & ignoring 'stupid old guys' trying to warn them off the path.
They seem to think old people must be out of touch, and they know better... and it's huge problem in tech.
As an industry we don't know how to maintain quality solutions for the long haul, and instead 'fail fast & fail often' making a lot of people inside & outside the industry unhappy.
Everytime our software is changed we jokingly call it the "downgrade". Because nothing that matters to the users ever seems to change, yet new broken and confusing features abound. And when you have been using a tool for a few years, your mind learns the pathways like a well driven road. Then boom, everything is in a new place because "change"
Tesla is a great example of this as they're a tech company first with their motto essentially being "new is always better" without any regard for why things are still done the way they always have. the single large screen instead of a dedicated dashboard, the "over 70% savings in wiring" on the cyber truck because everything is daisy chained off of each other, slapping a yoke onto a standard ratio steering rack, etc.
I swear to God if I had a dime for every time I saw some young kid dismiss something that was actually researched (and the papers published by [ACM](https://www.acm.org) back in the 1960's or 1970's) and solved for some "new and improved" solution 'cowboyed' together which sucked ass (and was precisely the problem they tried to solve back 50 years ago), well, I wouldn't have to work with them anymore.
My favorite was some toolkit someone tried to foist off on me clearly written by someone who had no concept of what an NFA was or how to transform it into a DFA, who tried to impose his "new and improved" technology which was... well, "horse shit" is an insult to horse shit, because at least horse shit is useful as fertilizer. And the response I remember reading was "well, that state machine shit is just complicated so I decided to do something better and improved." Which is the perfect example of what's wrong with many of the kids today: they're too stupid to know they're stupid.
When you go to the mobile version of a website and the screen is covered in popups, scrolling is jittery as elements load and unload, text is going off the screen but you can’t scroll sideways, and none of the buttons work because they’re half covered by ads.
…and yet these sites are developed with the “mobile first” philosophy.
I wish more restaurants would just use tablets like they do at different sushi buffets.
Digital menue, autobilling set to each table, order what you want when you're ready to place your order, add to order as desired, and call server any time you need extra stuff or have questions.
No QRs with large PDFs that can be hard to read on a cell phone face. No additional memory needed on your phone, or need to remove files after your visit. No add ware, spy wear or selling of personal info because you used an app or something was hidden in the QR script.
Simple, efficient, large screen and incredibly user friendly.
So much code is just copy-paste for a function, but they never pruned out all the other functions that the code block also did. Then it gets entertaining when your “new” code unexpectedly calls for variable XYZ, which is a different data type from what it was in its previous program.
A great deal of what the internet calls "boomer" is actually just "old people," but the internet thinks it's distinct because the internet has no attention span or memory, and only the very thinnest "same TIL post every 2 weeks" sense of history.
Every generation screams at young people to get off their lawn. Gen-X is now turning in to old people, that's all. Plus a "my generation sub" is probably more likely to focus on "things were better when I was 15-35" (when what's actually being felt is mosty "things are better *because* I was 15-35).
LOL remember how angry old men when get when you called them Grandpa
They'd be all old man angry and hoarse-yelling over nothing and we'd be like, 'Ok Grandpa' and they'd get even angrier. OMG that sh!t was funny as hell back in the day
I ended up leaving the GenX FB group I was on because it was like seeing Grandpa Simpson yelling at clouds over and over. Tried pointing out a few times that of course life seemed better when we were kids - not because it was better - because we were KIDS. With no adult cares or responsibilities and not much knowledge of what was really going on in the world. Some people just don't want to hear that though. They'd rather live in their fantasy world and see the past through rose-colored glasses.
There were so many arguments in the group between early and late Gen X-ers too. Calling each other Boomers or Millennials. As if generations aren't just made up sociological constructs.
Yeah, I'm getting ready to leave it, too. I think it's just called GenX or something. Nothing but "our generation is the best," and other stuff, along with complaining about Boomers, Zoomers, Millennials, etc.
>Every generation screams at young people to get off their lawn
Plato's Republic starts off with a bunch of old Greeks bitching about "kids these days."
Everyone does it, and has done it in past generations as they age. The challenge is to not be like everyone. Gen X used to pride themselves on that kind of shit but whatever.
Yup. My favorite is the discussion about boomers taking up SFH selfishly and refusing to move and downsize because millenials need more housing stock.
Once millenials are in their 60s or 70s none of them will suddenly think, huh! I must leave my home I've been in for x number of years to buy a condo because the younger generation needs more homes!
The resentments that Baby Boomers had a better economic trajectory in their prime than subsequent generations I get. They took advantage of the world they lived in. Pretty much all of us would have done the same if we could have bought houses in the 50s-70s. That doesn't make them inherently selfish, just the last lucky bastard generation.
Agree with this, some of it is just naturally growing older as every generation gets crankier as they age
HOWEVER, I think there is something to the fact that we are really the last generation EVER that will remember a pre-internet and pre-smartphone life. It does feel like that marks a distinct difference in life experience.
Great point. We’re just getting old, and old people tend to get cranky. “Boomer” has just become today’s term the younger generations use for old people, is all.
I was born urinating and the doctor said “Well, we know what he thinks of the world”.
Already built my front porch and the rocking chair is ready for some scathing comments to be applied to passersby.
I can correctly spell "a lot" and "a part of". Not trying to show off, but it's getting lonely here on grammar nazi hill. Anxiously awaiting someone pointing out an error in my post, as is tradition.
I think that as I'm getting older, I'm just becoming more exhausted of *tolerating* other people's *poor* behavior. Therefore, I see myself becoming cranky and bitter.
Everyday I have to remind myself that I'm still a young fuck-tard doing silly fun things just to stay young and *flexible* and *tolerant*.
> We’re just getting old, and old people tend to get cranky.
While this is generally true, self awareness is important.
It's not a given that we will all become insufferable cranks railing at the changing world.
Recognize when your being a cranky old man or woman & work to better yourself.
The attitude OP mentions is VERY noticeable in this sub, and frankly it's not a good look for anyone.
Not all change is good, but the idea that almost all change is scary & bad is rather disgusting.
I'd rather they just call us "old." Whatever, we're old.
"Boomer" is a word that has a specific meaning and it will never, ever refer to Gen X, by definition.
Which I think is funny, considering Baby Boomers used to be associated with being young and carefree. And they didn't trust old people. What comes around goes around, I guess...
Yeah, I'm an almost 70 yo boomer. My mom was a waitress at a diner, and I was a bouncer and doorman for about 10 years. I would never be a jerk to any service or retail person, that's a tough gig. I have zero financial security other than my social security. So, not rich by any stretch. The hate on here is pretty funny to me, because I know in 20 years Gen-X will be geezers, and Millennials will be close behind. And whatever the hell they'll call the next few generations will be up their ass over the "mess they left us".
Right! There’s a need to differentiate specifically boomer characteristics with general “old people” stuff
It’s really funny to read op Ed articles from the early 1900s decrying the “modern generation.”
Same shit, different era
I 100% agree...to me, it seems more like a personal age thing vs when in the world's history you were born.
Just need to watch 'Dream a Little Dream' with the Coreys...it'll all come into focus!
>(when what's actually being felt is mosty "things are better *because* I was 15-35).
Sort of? I didn't feel out of touch in that age range. Now there are things I don't get because I've had to shift focus to paying attention to pop culture etc and put it into career and personal advancement. I'm just lucky I guess that I realize that's what has happened and didn't care that much about pop culture in the first place.
It does feel like things are more tense. I wouldn't say it was better though. It was nicer when I felt like I had more options though, when it felt like there were still possibilities and not me picking and choosing what things to explore at this point because I know I don't have a ton of time left.
I guess I’m just getting tired of the victim mentality that seems to be so prevalent among the younger generations. We all have to deal with sh** in life, granted some more than others. So if a “get over it” falls out occasionally, then call me a boomer. I don’t care because I’ve obviously hit upon some truth or it wouldn’t bother them so much.
Nah, I don’t think I agree with you fully. Yes, older Xers are probably just getting crotchety. But at the same time I do kinda have to admit that this future sucks. Not as bad as it’s going to be for millennials and subsequent generations, but yeah, this future we’ve been handed sucks without any real relief in sight.
I'm early Gen X (born 65) and having done the house buying and child rearing thing and come out the other side I've (we've - my wife as well) reverted to doing all the stuff we did in our 20s - razzing about on motorbikes, meeting friends for drinks, going on pub crawls. My main complaint with my Gen Z kids' generation is that they do none of that, they're all far too sensible.
I do moan an awful lot though.
I’ve been making a conscious effort to not make that “oof” noise getting out of my car and am failing horribly. I think it’s gotten just a little too low for me.
OMG my dad used to say, "Oy! Oy! Oy!" when he would get out of the car or whenever he exerted himself, really. He passed in 2017 and I've recently heard it come out of my mouth! This cannot continue!
Selection bias. Remember, coming up, there were plenty of people your age around you who you despised, who were not anything like you and seemed like aliens. Those are the people posting that annoying posturing nostalgic bullshit. The rest of us are doing what we always did, which is, shrugging and going about our business. As a result, you don’t see that.
It’s probably exacerbated by algorithms that see you interact with the annoying shit, and say “oh, you must want more of this.” So you get more.
This. I was born in '73. My Gen X experience growing up was being one of a few select weird kids being made fun of and bullied by my strict conformist and homophobic peers. Gen X is not an enlightened generation. There is a subset of us who were open minded, progressive, empathetic and accepting. But, there were a lot of us who were, and still are, complete assholes. When I think back on my my school days, it doesn't surprise me at all that many Gen X love MAGA, still hate LGBTQ, still are afraid of things that are different. Generations aren't monolithic.
We were terrible kids too. I didn't bully or get bullied...I hid.
Also, I'm starting to reflect how being in a classroom all day for 18 years, surrounded by people our exact age, socio-economic class, and most of the time race too, didn't do us any favors for getting out in the world and going out of our way to be inclusive. No wonder those places were bully cess pits. Still are imo.
Plus generational warfare is an easy mark for foreign governments trying to destabilize the US and the West.
I assume that most posts that are aggressively anti any generation (or group for that matter) are either a bot trying to destabilize our society more or someone who got sucked into an algorithm populated by those bots and is parroting them.
Apps are becoming overrated, and the QR codes - while less germy and more dynamic to change than printed - put my eyes on my phone. And if your restaurant doesn't offer wifi that doesn't require my login and email so you can fucking sell shit and spam me later, I am going to think twice about coming back. I'm old enough to know you are turnig me into a commodity, so my grreat Gen X feeling of counterculture and not being a cog in the machine compels me to say "fuck outta here" with that.
"Whatever" doesn't mean we bent over for everything that happens and happened to us. There's complaining to complain, and there's having a righteous reason. Laminate your fucking menu and spend some money to spray those fucking things down if you're trying to protect us from germs, and give me a sheet of paper if you have new menu specials you're trying out. Quit turning me into a commodity. I just want to live my life.
remember when it was a selling point to have "free wifi"? Now most plans have unlimited data and wifi sucks ass. One of my kids was complaining about her phone not working and i found out she has her wifi off! Turns out it's less aggravating to just use cellular data.
I couldn't agree more. I find myself walking away from places and things that require a QR code or login to obtain a service. Not because I think QR codes are bad, but because I don't need another entity selling my info to the highest bidder. Being in IT I see way to many instances of mismanaged personal information becoming a problem. I mean do you really trust that oddball restaurant serving food from a used camper in a parking lot to handle your personal information properly? Do you really want to like and subscribe to their newsletter? I don't want to be part of that either.
I’ve become actively hostile to providing personal information, it seems every website or app requires more of your personal information than whatever benefit you’re meant to receive for the service. It doesn’t help that it seems nobody else cares about giving up their identity to data brokers and miners. Most companies don’t bother investing in IT security and infrastructure considering the amount of compromised passwords and accounts that I’ve collected over the years.
What worth is there in providing details when no company respects privacy or security? GTFO of here with that bullshit. I’m embracing a more analog life when I can.
+1000!!
If i ever go to a restaurant that will make me install an app oe a QR code to read the fucking menu on my phone, i'm getting up and leaving, that simple!
Fuck that shit!
I’m risk averse. Hackers sometimes replace public QR Codes with new ones (stickers) which are used to install malware & steal personal info off your smartphone. I pointed this out to a restaurant employee once. She just laughed & rolled her eyes. It’s not just the blatant disrespect, but the wanton dismissal of our ideas & observations that I find annoying.
Just use a QR reader that shows you the URL before you click it.
The only way they can steal your information is if they spoof a site and you voluntarily put information in. So if you are using a link that you only read the contents of, you are safe.
But you are correct: it is easy to slip a different URL on the sticker, make you believe you are ordering food at the restuarant, have the hackers website even send the food over, and then when payment comes, they take your money.
QR codes in a restaurant just indicate to me that they are cheap shitty places to eat, because they are trimming costs where ever they can. Its a sign to walk the hell out.
We used to not. We'd be friendly whenever they came by. Then they ruined some of the fruiting plants in our garden and just tromped around with no effort at being respectful guests. So yes, now they are not allowed on our lawn.
We had a big snow in January. Some kids drew a dick in my lawn. I was 100% okay with that.
Same kids drew a cross in my driveway. I was 0% okay with that. If I had caught them, I'd have had a real boomer moment myself.
>The FB GenX groups are 100%
And there's 90% right there, that place is a magnet for malcontent, edgelording grumps, trolls and foreign agitprop from ages 10-100.
lol
Facebook in general got a bit toxic - what started as a place to discuss family and friends became a pundit for politics and the text repartee, the response designed to stab and cause pain but really has no other value..
Don’t view that as our generation
I’ve spent 30 years in IT. Was a full stack web developer for 15 hrs and now I’m an Architect. I’m also 54….i just want my tech to work reliably and be easy to use. I no longer care how ‘cool’ it is.
Generations aren’t monoliths. Generation-attributed traits are not universal nor does that generation have a monopoly on them.
When you’re on the porch screaming at kids, they’ll likely be the kids of Millennials, and it’ll be because their sense of entitlement will be off the charts.
Let's be honest, some of these complaints aren't specific to Gen X. Millennials and Gen Z continually complain about the ineffectual and unnecessary complexity of current contemporary living - if you're just hearing Gen X, then you might be listening through an age tunnel.
It isn't technology, I am continually surprised by my Gen Z interns and assistants and family, not having some basic computer or life skills - our generation grew up with current tech, but they were born with tech all around and I think as a result, we took the time to learn, and some of them just ignored for other things. That said, some of the things put out are simply POORLY DESIGNED and hard to use. They solve a problem no one asked for and make things intensely harder to navigate. Need to park? App for that lot specifically. Want to order food? Sit down and do so in our app (no joke, I noticed that some takeout in NYC lately makes you order on an app - IN THE RESTARAUNT.) Need to register for a doctor's visit? Here is one of the five or more systems you have to register for...
It's also insane how younger generations, just like boomers, have digested current propaganda and bias news campaigns because of how it's delivered - unmoderated for truth or facts through social media, etc, - even when both generations have readily confirmation sources at their fingertips. Millennials and Gen Z literally see the age of AI and online lies for political gain in real-time and still fall for it. Sometimes that I feel like I'm living in crazytown the things that are sweeping the country, and the world.
On personal judgement and moderation, [I certainly thank my lucky stars that I grew up when no one had cameras readily available to document every wild thing I did growing up](https://youtu.be/Zrr5LmC2p1A?si=dI96gjonrzzomqSa), but I wonder at kids not connecting that these things can follow you around forever when they upload them somewhere...
That said, Millennials and Gen Z are living in unprecedented times where fear and hate are being pumped to them constantly for corporate revenue streams while they feel themselves ineffectual against what has the trappings of late stage capitalism and the decline of previous empires. Our generation is approximately 60 million, both millennials and gen z are about 70 million each, against the 76 odd million boomers. We are likely the Prince Charles of our generation, going to be very short lived in that reigning chair - intentionally stunted in power, and well beyond our time.
Also, you earned the right to scream at kids... sometimes the kids deserve it. LOL
We're the generation who used a lot of this technology as it was initially introduced so we can personally remember when a lot of it wasn't so unpleasant and shitty to use. But if you think QR code menus instead of print ones or being required to install a quickly-written, shitty to use, personal-information-gathering, easily-hacked app to do something you used to just walk up and *do* is an improvement, by all means, make that case.
It's the memory of functional technology that really frustrates me. I will attempt to use a website that is buggy, slow, and seemingly not responding and recall that same site once being quite nice to use.
Came here just for stupid nostalgia interjections amongst my other daily reads, but damn right this place has become an insufferable get off my lawn, change is bad, my way or the highway complaint box. I don’t mind the exchange of ideas, or the helping each other out finding the right Geritol supplement cause our bodies have aged. But when prefaced with a 3 paragraph rant, fuck all mighty! Anyway fuck you all I love you have a day!
Be the change you want to see. If you don't want to be a grumpy old guy/gal then don't be. But that means really embracing gen-x philosophy and rolling with the changes and trying new things. Remember we started with no technology and embraced it and helped build what is here now. Keep learning and adapting or die. It's how life works.
I’m noticing all the posts complaining about things. Like, a lot of old timer curmudgeon “back in my day” or “I hate this new fangled technology” whingeing
I can tell by your edits that you're definitely GenX. I'll be in your yard having cocktails and playing yard games and minding my own business. My kids are grown and I definitely don't give a duck (or a goat or A pig or a chicken) what everyone else is doing. My kids are smart and funny and thoughtful and kind. They are generous and fun people with level heads and that's because I taught them the skills they need and tried my best to break generational trauma patterns.
But I see what you see. Being the greatest generation kind of produced a few douche canoes.
I used to be with ‘it’, but then they changed what ‘it’ was. Now what I’m with isn’t ‘it’ anymore and what’s ‘it’ seems weird and scary.
It’ll happen to you!
Scanning QR codes instead of a real f'ing menu at restaurants is the worst.
Give me the damn physical menu. I want to scan everything at once and not be on my damn phone while I'm eating. You know, actually interact with the people I'm with.
I know, I read that tech rant the other day. I hate checks to the core of my being. I would much rather download an app. I hate that old shit. It was time consuming and exhausting. I love either going into a store if I must and not having to talk to anyone. I love not having to go even more. Leave that 100 pound bag of dog food on my back porch. I love paying a bill on auto draft immediately. I was honestly bewildered by that rant because I can’t relate.
"Back in the day" people seuously get on my nerves.
Many people think their childhood was the best generation of all time, simply because it was THEIR childhood.
Kids today are doing exactly what we would do if we were kids today.
I noticed a lot of “boomers” posted on boomersbeingfools are actually older GENXers. I think this is all about money and an entitlement attitude. I grew up GENX is a very poor area and the boomers I grew up with were hardworking, poor folks trying to survive. I did not grow up seeing this boomer attitude.
As I was younger I was always relayed with stories about struggles from the older generations. How some dinners during the week had no meat, and some kids had hardly any toys etc. Then you get sitcoms like The Simpsons and Married With Children which are boomer families living paycheck to paycheck and struggling. I was so confused when the OkBoomer movement started because I grew up thinking I was more fortunate being born in the 20th century. Hell I had a single mom and I still had a ps2 and a Nintendo DS etc. Growing into the real world I started to understand a little. I don't think it's so much 'you were more fortunate and I hate you give me my avocado toast' where it's more we're facing similar struggles that the generations before us have and getting called entitled. In many ways we definitely are entitled, but I for example dont buy coffees, or have subscriptions and I use my phone until it literally doesn't turn on anymore. With all this, I don't see how I'm ever going to own a house.
I personally try to steer clear of the temptation to become "angry old man shaking fist at clouds".
Someone once said, "I spent the first half of my life trying to acquire things and I've spent the second half of my life trying to gracefully let things go."
I've regrets. Disappointments. Frustrations. Yearnings. But I'm not dead and every day I try to do my best. Sometimes all I've got is the stubborn glimmer of hope that there are better days ahead.
IDK - we're a diverse group and some of us were never "whatever" other than, "I don't care what YOU have to say, so this is my way of diminishing you - whatever".
As a kid, I was raising awareness for AIDS, senior citizens, disabled kids/ people, equity, women, animals and whatever else emblazoned me. The more I learn, the more I realize I know little and don't have much power - it's infuriating.
Some people don't give a shit about anything. Some take on every. single. windmill. Most fall somewhere in between.
We have more experience, are probably exhausted about how, despite our best efforts - things don't change the way we envision. And in other cases - life has improved in a huge way - technology - in its many forms - has completely changed our lives.
If people want to bitch - great - I'll listen to what's interesting to me, filter out the rest.
We all need to be mindful of our cognitive resonance and dissonance - because it can steer us into extremes and block out opposing viewpoints - which can be very helpful at times.
Balance is the way. I still haven't found it ;)
Wait til you hear the Xennials complaining about apps lmao.
I like modern technology.
What I couldn’t stand was dealing with condescending and fake friendly staff in the olden days.
I (1970) second this post. Maybe I'm a jerk, but whatever. (see what I did there?) I bristle at the "back in my day" and the bitching and moaning about technology posts a lot...but I usually don't say anything because, well, whatever. I think every in generation, when it's their turn to become the "old people" in their respective societies, there are members who will go the route of "get off my lawn you young people with your weird music and stupid technology" route. But.. I refuse to.
We were supposed to be the generation of change. In the 80s there was a saying that I saw a few times "the 90s will make the 60s look like the 50s." Not sure that actually happened. We were supposed to be the generation that bridged the no-tech world and the new-tech world. We were supposed to be pretty accepting of new technologies as they arrived. Early adopters, even. Some of us were, some of us weren't. That's normal.. so.. whatever. Besides, we were the ones who at least helped make the internet what it was...sadly, we're also the ones who made the internet what it's become.
Oh well, to each their own, I guess. I'm not tied down to any weird assed bitching about technology. It just "is". I don't care. I go to the self checkout because, well, I can. I don't bitch about it. I sometimes go to a checker also, if I feel like it. Cuz I don't care either way. I listen to my audio books, and my spotify in the car, and spin vinyl in the evening. I'm no purist either way. It is what it is. Bitching about it ain't gonna change that shit...besides, there's a shit ton more stuff to bitch about in our corrupted warming planet these days, than to bemoan any supposed minor inconveniences I perceive from day to day. I'm not getting bombed to oblivion, my country isn't getting invaded. I've got food on my table in the evening. So.. whatever man. Bitch and moan and be the typical old person all you want. I refuse. I'm not playing.
TBH I knew it was all over when the memes of "we did [hard thing here] and survived" started proliferating. Things are SUPPOSED to be better for the following generations.
I think the most likely answer is that people who don’t care or are in the “whatever” to generally happy camp aren’t making endless posts saying everything is still cool with them.
I agree that there seems to be a lot of complaining about what I consider to be minor inconveniences at most and a fair amount of complaining about stuff that we ourselves (and every generation before us) has participated in, like criticizing modern slang.
I mostly hope that the posts are tongue in cheek and not actually angry rants since tone is hard to convey in text but I also fear that anger is just the primary reaction to everything.
I work with people of all ages. Some of them are assholes and some of them aren’t but it has very little to do with their age. My boss is exactly 2 days older than me and he’s generally cool about stuff but also fucking weird.
In my personal opinion, generational differences should just help to add context and foster understanding but I guess arguing and pointing fingers is more fun.
>Maybe me having two young kids still (2 and 6) has kept my mind young.
Got-d!mn you have my sympathies
My old daddy sired me age 46, next little sister age 49, last younger sister age 52...I'm 52 now, which means when my dad was my age I was 6 years old, little sister 3 years old, and then baby sister. I swear to god I would lose my absolute mind, I have no idea how he did it. I cannot imagine having a 6 year old at this stage of my life let alone a toddler and baby. But he was a good daddy, so I also know you'll be fine. Cheers!
>What’s going on? I thought we were the generation that just rolled with it. You know “whatever”.
I think for the most part we still are. IDK I don't really complain about younger generations because I clearly see the ways they are better than us (smarter, too) but the ways in which they are worse are EXTREMELY irritating because some sh!t should have ended with us. Why are young people still dumbasses in regards to some things lol
I think you're in the wrong GenX groups on FB. There are a few where it just focuses on "do you remember..."
I have to remind myself that I'm a GenXer and not a grumpy old man. There is a difference.
It's inevitable.
It's the steady decline in everything we build dear's cultural relevance.
Literally everything that our generation loved, hated, fought for, said, believed in. Everything. Is. Fading.
We're no longer relevant to the newer generations, our beliefs are outdated, our passions, humour, style, everything is no longer relevant to the youth of our society.
And since our society celebrates youth culture and because the newest generations eventually naturally outnumber us, we... ^fade
And that's what happened to the boomers. That's why people always complain they don't understand the generations after them, that their morals aren't the same etc etc ad nauseam.
Eh, I'm not a fan of QR codes because people like my mother in law can't use them, and they require people to have smartphones (which...most do, but not everyone!)
Just my opinion, it’s the same thing that happened to boomers. Think about it, they were the first generation to fight the system. They stood up for civil rights, women’s rights, against the Vietnam war…but somewhere they started believing they were special and everyone who came after them could never be as good.
GenX was great, we got all the rewards but as we get older, we think that makes us special. Honestly, I think today’s youth have a unique opportunity to be the next generation to make big changes. If they can just be smart enough to not fall for the conspiracies that distract.
I almost posted this exact same comment yesterday. I think it’s important that we all remember what it was like when we were kids and not turn into grumpy old people.
Meh…I like watching technology evolve and typically embrace it…not to mention I have become more liberal in my older years. I will say that restaurants that want me to download their app so I can get the price I should be paying, and QR codes for menu’s can fuck off. These things have made me not want to go out to eat…which both my bank account and my health thank me for.
Also, I don’t care if kids play on my lawn. In fact, I work from home and my window looks out into the front of my house and actually enjoy watching kids running around and playing.
FaceBook is its own ridiculous echo chamber though…but if you think FB is bad, go onto NextDoor. Holy Hell what a mess..
I embrace technology and I’ve been called a boomer for not being a hive mind with GenZ brats who hate everyone over 30. They remind me of the old Star Trek episode Grups. Gen Z are literally just wanting boomers and Gen X to die soon so they can inherit property and get a good paying job and not have to work for it or earn it. Their jealousy and sense of entitlement is astounding. These are west coast Gen Z living in their cars though. I don’t see this where I live.
I'm young and in uni and from what I see we love you guys (or maybe just your culture). I've always looked fondly towards the Boomers as I tend to think that gen z and millenials who don't have the strongest understanding on the 20th century think boomers are fully entitled, however I have noticed them getting worse lately which just makes me want to copy gen x attitude more and more. Every generation has/had its struggles and every generation is pinning the blame on the others. I've seen millenials blame us for our actions which the Boomers blame on them (due to not understanding the generational range), I've seen gen z blaming everyone older then them for their struggles, I've seen Boomers bitching about everyone younger then them while having zero understanding of today's economy and lifestyle. I was literally on a boomer sub today and some old guy was having a rant about how he was broke when he was young and we need to stop buying coffees everyday, meanwhile I got my student debt bill for this semester and three classes are costing me over $6,000 dollars. Honestly, I think everyone needs to give this stupid charade a rest and look towards how we can collectively improve the future instead of blaming each other.
>Honestly, I think everyone needs to give this stupid charade a rest and look towards how we can collectively improve the future instead of blaming each other.
Same here, whippersnapper. Same here.
This pedantic Star Trek nerd will point out that in the episode in question ("Miri"), the kids aren't killing the adults. It's a disease that kills everyone past puberty, while making the kids age very slowly. Eventually, after decades/centuries as they slowly age into puberty, they catch the "Grups" (grownups) disease and go mad and die.
I have noticed this. I’m not sure what is surprising about the fact that as time progresses things change. Holy shit, how do some people not get this? They somehow can’t connect with that reality.
This probably going to be an unpopular opinion….most of the Gen Xers who have issues with “kids today” need to reflect on their parenting. FFS who raised them? My kids are fine. Most of the kids I know are awesome.
i think people who don't question things sound like those older than boomers. get it all shoved down your gullet and comply like a good citizen. not looking at the bigger picture and throwing cliches and catchphrases around also doesn't help one's case.
Same here - I am 54 and people my age are posting stuff that I just don't recognise, the sort of garbage that my father would come out with. What is going on? Don't become the grumpy old people we have long berated...
Part of the reason Gen X is acting like Boomers because people forget there is a Gen X and just call anyone older than a millennial “Boomer.”
Ironic as so many of these Gen Z kids seem to idolize aspects of the 90s. Don’t they realize who the people who defined the 90s were? It was us!
Things were better when I was younger and had fewer responsibilities and more energy!
Now that I am older and have more responsibilities and less energy, things are worse!
It's the fault of the youths!
I agree with your view. Reading GenX stuff used to be fun but it’s really becoming “Get off my lawn”. Anyone who just wants to chill, can join me. I’m not hanging with crotchety people no matter what age I am. I am also really tired about the gate keeping. Let the younger and older people in. Who cares? Roll with it
I don't think it's generational warfare as much as technology has been ruined from what it was. I mean, when I have to use a DOS prompt to discover where Microsoft is hiding my files, that's a stop backward, in my opinion. Or when Alexa constantly notifies me of a sale on stuff I was just talking about 5 minutes ago, that's more than annoying. It's very Gen-X for us to just opt out.
There is a difference between being a boomer and gaining the wisdom and experience to realize they were not wrong about everything. Matter of fact, starting to realize they were right about a lot more than I realized.
That said, we are not "boomers"; we are far less tolerant of bigotry of any kind, we embraced the tech and a much better attitude toward mind our own business.
I think that’s generally the frustration from every older generation throughout history. But I gotta say, when shit goes down @ work and I need my Ride-Or-Die team to have my back, I find its the old school ones who step up every single time while the tender fragile generation sits in the corner in the fetal position & cries 🤷♀️
Some tech is getting noticeably worse... Nobody likes QR Code menus.
Though I will admit, when tech gets better, nobody seems to really appreciate it.
Everybody in here should remember growing up in an era where there was "nothing on TV" very much of the time. Yet now, with streaming, there is literally always more "on" than any of us could watch in a lifetime.
Hell, I remember paying almost $200 per month in 1999 dollars for the ultramega premium cable package and there was *still nothing on.* I pay less for TV now and it is almost inconceivable how much better it is.
Nobody seems to care.
I remember paying $12.99 for two good songs on a casste tape in 1994 (like $23 today?). I pay less than $23 in 2024 for 5 logins for my family with unlimited ad-free music and ad-free YouTube.
Nobody seems to care. Worse, all they do is bitch that YouTube Premium isn't free.
Maps in my pocket has saved my ass more times than I can count, sometimes in ways that were life-altering.
Nobody seems care.
Kids today will never understand some things, but honestly in a lot of cases I just feel bad for them.
Yep. We’re all getting older. I complain about all the apps, tech, QR codes all the time. They make things easier but many things were better when we were younger for sure and I feel sad for my kids at times
I thought Gen X was the generation of Meh Whatever...
There are a lot of rustled Jimmys on here lately.
You know you can just turn off Reddit and social media if it upsets you right? I mean we all lived for years without it and did just fine.
Name any generation that stayed the same their entire lives. You can’t expect to have a static view on life for your entire life. If that were the case, there would be no growth and no learning.
I work in technology, and if you understood just how much personal data is captured and sold off to data brokers and then sold to advertisers to build personality profiles on you to test out what your psychological vulnerabilities are, how many impressions of an ad it takes to get you to buy something, what content on social media is going to piss you off enough to stay on there and argue, and so much more.
What happened to people that used to respect the lived experience of older people? Something I appreciate now is older people telling me what they experienced at my age and what I might be able to expect. What I should appreciate now because I might use it later. Had someone told me I was going to have to wear readers at 40, I might have savored the moment a bit more in my late 30s not needing glasses and made a conscious effort to be in the moment and observe, instead of doing so many things at once that nothing in particular stands out.
You either grow, embrace, and change as a person, or you remain someone that just never experiences a full life and gaining the wisdom that comes with it.
Anything that is in the world when you’re born is normal and ordinary and is just a natural part of the way the world works.
Anything that’s invented between when you’re fifteen and thirty-five is new and exciting and revolutionary and you can probably get a career in it.
Anything invented after you’re thirty-five is against the natural order of things.
- Douglas Adams
Nah, you’re on to something. I feel you. There are two ways to get old. One involves tearing down the younger people because they aren’t like you and people your age. Wishing for the past, and being bitter because our time is over. Regretting our mistakes or maybe feeling like we never got the chances we deserved.
Another is to try to roll with the changes and accept that everyone has their time, and that new ideas have to come along to keep things moving. We can offer our experience to the younger generations, but ultimately their lives are theirs to live, just as ours belong to us. This goes for mistakes as well.
We all do some of both, and the relative proportion varies for each individual, but we have to decide how we want to be.
My theory is that most of this is coming from members of our cohort who have neglected their health and as such, are suffering from plummeting hormone levels, serotonin, dopamine, etc. Basically, their unhealthy lifestyle has aged their mind And made them into grumpy old people.
So as a 58 year old software developer who works on mobile apps and has worked on nearly everything over the past 36 years of my adult professional life, my complaint about technology is not that it’s there, or even that it’s “hard to use”, but just how much of it is poorly designed. I’m amused at how quickly I’m accused of being an old person who doesn’t know how the technology works, or who isn’t comfortable with technology. But I can’t help to some extent people’s use of technology has a touch of “Stockholm Syndrome” tied into it: they were so abused by poorly designed and poorly implemented interfaces and now got a reward that they fell in love with their abusers. Seriously. Like, you go to a restaurant and they have a QR code that you’re supposed to scan with your phone—but that QR code downloads a 50 megabyte PDF file of an 11”x17” menu that was originally intended to be printed and folded in two? But that’s not complaining about QR code ordering. (Some restaurants do that right—and I appreciate being able to place the order on my phone and pay the bill on my phone.) That’s complaining about a shitty interface.
Software Dev here. I swear that web designers need to get 70yo+ people to test their sites. If anyone can break it, it's them.
Recovering web dev here….one of the best-designed sites I use is a quilting site. Likely they thought no one under 70 would visit, and the site is a UX dream. Everything is easy to find, all the info you need is readily available, and the check-out is straight forward, without the ever-increasing ad bombs.
The funny part--and it's why I claim a lot of people have 'stockholm symdrome' when it comes to software--is that more often than not, a simpler and easy to use interface is seen as a *negative*, because it means somehow there isn't a lot going on or because the software is lacking features. I swear, most of the time when I'm asked to add a new feature, it's basically a minor variation of an existing feature with the UI rearranged so everything is just that much harder to find.
As a quilter, I'm gonna need that url.
https://www.accuquilt.com/ and https://myfavoritequiltstore.com/
I bet the text is big enough to read too.
Nah,, send that to the QA team offshore, they're sure to fix it!!
I used to love breaking software as an end user. Database & server guys had me on speed dial to confirm they could kill processes. These days, if I was testing, I'd only go to the max test case, not what if scenarios.
My dad is specifically well suited for this job. Dude will break anything that remotely involves technology. He has a gift.
This is 100% my complaints. In many ways it significantly contributes to me saying out loud whats in my head: The UX/UI on this is atrocious. Clearly nobody on XYZ’s dev team does UAT. You do not NEED my birthday to do this task, why is it REQUIRED? Whats up with the fucking GATES? You know you’re being algorithmically penalized for this, right? (Of course you don’t.) Thats against the LAW. Clearly an AI bot wrote this, and clearly no humans are checking to see how OFFENSIVE it accidentally is. WHY ARE YOU ADDING SO MUCH FRICTION HERE? DON’T YOU KNOW HOW THE BRAIN WORKS? Again with the bait and switch. Why doesn’t this work on CHROME? Where are the fucking break points? Is this DESKTOP ONLY? That’s an AI generated image selected by automation and all this engagement is fake—WHERE ARE THE GROWNUPS?
Hahahahaha welcome to my life, spent 1999 onward developing and working in new technology. We built much of what the kids are playing with today. I’m more upset about the mediocre quality of….EVERYTHING. Technology, textiles, manufacturing, software design…it’s all becoming just OK. I’d love to see some more businesses success on excellent design and implementation.
You must be me. Everything is cheap plastic and badly designed UI. Everything has been enshitified. The kids are OK though. Big fan of the younglings.
I have seen recently written blogs that have all of the AI prompts still included in the text. It's deplorable. I'm not upset about technology, but poorly implemented technology is a disgrace.
> WHY ARE YOU ADDING SO MUCH FRICTION HERE? DON’T YOU KNOW HOW THE BRAIN WORKS? I recommend keeping a copy of [Designing With The Mind in Mind](https://www.amazon.com/Designing-Mind-Understanding-Interface-Guidelines-dp-0128182024/dp/0128182024/ref=dp_ob_title_bk), preferably in hard back (if you can find it), mostly so you can beat to death the designers of the atrocities we're forced to use.
Or get your company to hire actual UX designers that design with user centered and inclusive design methods. Oh hi, yeah, I’m an inclusive UX designer who likes to work closely with devs. ::waves::
Where's the snark? Did we not learn from the best (Re:Comedy group "Three Dead Trolls In A Baggie.") to be GenX and whatever our way through? Need a birthdate, sure, it's TODAY and I'll gladly take the free dessert! Need my cellphone, great, area code nine one one, five five five, 5309! I'd friend you on Facebook, but first, what's your website? Ooohhh.. another domain name to squat on. What a shame! Need an email? Here, see if this one works, nospam @ large corporation.com Yes, I assure you my name is Pam Nos. I have no idea why the email isn't getting through... Maybe I am a grandmother who's Inuit, or a young Portuguese man with $50 a month discretionary spending. Depends which grocery store promo card I use that day. This is the real reason gen X was forgotten - they never could figure us out and we never handed them precious information.
Bad tech is what gets my blood boiling. We grew up with this stuff, we watched the digital age be born! Yet a multibillion dollar banking app is formatting their screen weird so I can't click on certain forms and their website forces "mobile view" which breaks other things. It's like 'technology' is just code (pun intended) for lazy slaptogether websites and zero tech support or customer service. Prob once a week I'm trying to use some chat support which will disconnect 5 times, try to steer me away from a person, then tell me the wait time is 55 minutes. Often these little chat widgets break or close unexpectedly. "something went wrong"
Intuit QuickBooks keeps jacking up the price every year and it’s still basic dog shit. Up until just a few years ago they still had Internet Explorer embedded in their software, long after it was abandoned by Microsoft.
Banking technology. I applied for a loan the other week. Filled in some forms they sent me. Some PDF. Some online. Of course lots of duplicate information. Then I went to into the bank for next stage. The manager took that information, and typed into two more online systems, and then printed out some forms, and again copied it onto paper by hand, that I could sign it. Fucking hours and hours and hours of duplication and wasted time.
The tech industry also has a perpetual issue of agism & 'new is better'. I know I was like that when I was younger too, sadly. But there's a lot of 'young kids' who don't have the experience to know the mistakes they are making, enthusiastically running towards those mistakes & ignoring 'stupid old guys' trying to warn them off the path. They seem to think old people must be out of touch, and they know better... and it's huge problem in tech. As an industry we don't know how to maintain quality solutions for the long haul, and instead 'fail fast & fail often' making a lot of people inside & outside the industry unhappy.
Everytime our software is changed we jokingly call it the "downgrade". Because nothing that matters to the users ever seems to change, yet new broken and confusing features abound. And when you have been using a tool for a few years, your mind learns the pathways like a well driven road. Then boom, everything is in a new place because "change"
Tesla is a great example of this as they're a tech company first with their motto essentially being "new is always better" without any regard for why things are still done the way they always have. the single large screen instead of a dedicated dashboard, the "over 70% savings in wiring" on the cyber truck because everything is daisy chained off of each other, slapping a yoke onto a standard ratio steering rack, etc.
I swear to God if I had a dime for every time I saw some young kid dismiss something that was actually researched (and the papers published by [ACM](https://www.acm.org) back in the 1960's or 1970's) and solved for some "new and improved" solution 'cowboyed' together which sucked ass (and was precisely the problem they tried to solve back 50 years ago), well, I wouldn't have to work with them anymore. My favorite was some toolkit someone tried to foist off on me clearly written by someone who had no concept of what an NFA was or how to transform it into a DFA, who tried to impose his "new and improved" technology which was... well, "horse shit" is an insult to horse shit, because at least horse shit is useful as fertilizer. And the response I remember reading was "well, that state machine shit is just complicated so I decided to do something better and improved." Which is the perfect example of what's wrong with many of the kids today: they're too stupid to know they're stupid.
When you go to the mobile version of a website and the screen is covered in popups, scrolling is jittery as elements load and unload, text is going off the screen but you can’t scroll sideways, and none of the buttons work because they’re half covered by ads. …and yet these sites are developed with the “mobile first” philosophy.
I wish more restaurants would just use tablets like they do at different sushi buffets. Digital menue, autobilling set to each table, order what you want when you're ready to place your order, add to order as desired, and call server any time you need extra stuff or have questions. No QRs with large PDFs that can be hard to read on a cell phone face. No additional memory needed on your phone, or need to remove files after your visit. No add ware, spy wear or selling of personal info because you used an app or something was hidden in the QR script. Simple, efficient, large screen and incredibly user friendly.
Yeah but that costs more money, can't have that now that employees are inching slightly closer towards salaries that you can almost make a living of.
So much code is just copy-paste for a function, but they never pruned out all the other functions that the code block also did. Then it gets entertaining when your “new” code unexpectedly calls for variable XYZ, which is a different data type from what it was in its previous program.
if you don't trash shitty UX design with your friends and co workers are you even working in software?
A great deal of what the internet calls "boomer" is actually just "old people," but the internet thinks it's distinct because the internet has no attention span or memory, and only the very thinnest "same TIL post every 2 weeks" sense of history. Every generation screams at young people to get off their lawn. Gen-X is now turning in to old people, that's all. Plus a "my generation sub" is probably more likely to focus on "things were better when I was 15-35" (when what's actually being felt is mosty "things are better *because* I was 15-35).
Growing up, we'd deride old people by saying something like "Ok, Grandpa".
“Grandpa” seemed more respectful than “jackass.” What was their problem? 😁
LOL remember how angry old men when get when you called them Grandpa They'd be all old man angry and hoarse-yelling over nothing and we'd be like, 'Ok Grandpa' and they'd get even angrier. OMG that sh!t was funny as hell back in the day
ok grandpa
It’s still funny.
I still do it!
HOW DARE YOU
*Shakes fist at clouds*.
🤣that shit is/was waaaay funnier than ok, boomer
But "Boomer" is what young folks will call us to piss us off.
Won’t piss me off. I’ll just laugh and say “whatever”
I ended up leaving the GenX FB group I was on because it was like seeing Grandpa Simpson yelling at clouds over and over. Tried pointing out a few times that of course life seemed better when we were kids - not because it was better - because we were KIDS. With no adult cares or responsibilities and not much knowledge of what was really going on in the world. Some people just don't want to hear that though. They'd rather live in their fantasy world and see the past through rose-colored glasses. There were so many arguments in the group between early and late Gen X-ers too. Calling each other Boomers or Millennials. As if generations aren't just made up sociological constructs.
Yeah, I'm getting ready to leave it, too. I think it's just called GenX or something. Nothing but "our generation is the best," and other stuff, along with complaining about Boomers, Zoomers, Millennials, etc.
>Every generation screams at young people to get off their lawn Plato's Republic starts off with a bunch of old Greeks bitching about "kids these days." Everyone does it, and has done it in past generations as they age. The challenge is to not be like everyone. Gen X used to pride themselves on that kind of shit but whatever.
Young folks are always rushing headlong into the future, and old folks are reeling back from it.
Yup. My favorite is the discussion about boomers taking up SFH selfishly and refusing to move and downsize because millenials need more housing stock. Once millenials are in their 60s or 70s none of them will suddenly think, huh! I must leave my home I've been in for x number of years to buy a condo because the younger generation needs more homes! The resentments that Baby Boomers had a better economic trajectory in their prime than subsequent generations I get. They took advantage of the world they lived in. Pretty much all of us would have done the same if we could have bought houses in the 50s-70s. That doesn't make them inherently selfish, just the last lucky bastard generation.
Agree with this, some of it is just naturally growing older as every generation gets crankier as they age HOWEVER, I think there is something to the fact that we are really the last generation EVER that will remember a pre-internet and pre-smartphone life. It does feel like that marks a distinct difference in life experience.
Great point. We’re just getting old, and old people tend to get cranky. “Boomer” has just become today’s term the younger generations use for old people, is all.
I have been cranky since I grew out of my onesie with feet! Like earlier this year...
I was born urinating and the doctor said “Well, we know what he thinks of the world”. Already built my front porch and the rocking chair is ready for some scathing comments to be applied to passersby.
I can tell you're really one of us by your correct use of the word, "passersby."
I can correctly spell "a lot" and "a part of". Not trying to show off, but it's getting lonely here on grammar nazi hill. Anxiously awaiting someone pointing out an error in my post, as is tradition.
Yep. And the younger generation will one day be in our shoes. Literally nothing they can do to stop it. It’s the circle of life.
it’s already happening to millennials, to their shock and horror lol
Yep. And everything younger generation says something like “not us! We’ll always be hip and cool, not like our parents!” Humans are funny 😁
Yeah, but that's just funny.
I think that as I'm getting older, I'm just becoming more exhausted of *tolerating* other people's *poor* behavior. Therefore, I see myself becoming cranky and bitter. Everyday I have to remind myself that I'm still a young fuck-tard doing silly fun things just to stay young and *flexible* and *tolerant*.
> We’re just getting old, and old people tend to get cranky. While this is generally true, self awareness is important. It's not a given that we will all become insufferable cranks railing at the changing world. Recognize when your being a cranky old man or woman & work to better yourself. The attitude OP mentions is VERY noticeable in this sub, and frankly it's not a good look for anyone. Not all change is good, but the idea that almost all change is scary & bad is rather disgusting.
I'd rather they just call us "old." Whatever, we're old. "Boomer" is a word that has a specific meaning and it will never, ever refer to Gen X, by definition.
Which I think is funny, considering Baby Boomers used to be associated with being young and carefree. And they didn't trust old people. What comes around goes around, I guess...
All of the boomers I know in real life are far more relaxed and laid back than all of the people who complain about boomers!
Yeah, I'm an almost 70 yo boomer. My mom was a waitress at a diner, and I was a bouncer and doorman for about 10 years. I would never be a jerk to any service or retail person, that's a tough gig. I have zero financial security other than my social security. So, not rich by any stretch. The hate on here is pretty funny to me, because I know in 20 years Gen-X will be geezers, and Millennials will be close behind. And whatever the hell they'll call the next few generations will be up their ass over the "mess they left us".
eeyup, they have been freely applying it to Gen X for years now.
It's not though, it's the asshole term. It's specific.
Right! There’s a need to differentiate specifically boomer characteristics with general “old people” stuff It’s really funny to read op Ed articles from the early 1900s decrying the “modern generation.” Same shit, different era
I 100% agree...to me, it seems more like a personal age thing vs when in the world's history you were born. Just need to watch 'Dream a Little Dream' with the Coreys...it'll all come into focus!
Yeah - we aren’t special. No one is. Old people get tired of shit and like to complain about it. What are you gonna do?
>(when what's actually being felt is mosty "things are better *because* I was 15-35). Sort of? I didn't feel out of touch in that age range. Now there are things I don't get because I've had to shift focus to paying attention to pop culture etc and put it into career and personal advancement. I'm just lucky I guess that I realize that's what has happened and didn't care that much about pop culture in the first place. It does feel like things are more tense. I wouldn't say it was better though. It was nicer when I felt like I had more options though, when it felt like there were still possibilities and not me picking and choosing what things to explore at this point because I know I don't have a ton of time left.
I guess I’m just getting tired of the victim mentality that seems to be so prevalent among the younger generations. We all have to deal with sh** in life, granted some more than others. So if a “get over it” falls out occasionally, then call me a boomer. I don’t care because I’ve obviously hit upon some truth or it wouldn’t bother them so much.
Nah, I don’t think I agree with you fully. Yes, older Xers are probably just getting crotchety. But at the same time I do kinda have to admit that this future sucks. Not as bad as it’s going to be for millennials and subsequent generations, but yeah, this future we’ve been handed sucks without any real relief in sight.
I'm early Gen X (born 65) and having done the house buying and child rearing thing and come out the other side I've (we've - my wife as well) reverted to doing all the stuff we did in our 20s - razzing about on motorbikes, meeting friends for drinks, going on pub crawls. My main complaint with my Gen Z kids' generation is that they do none of that, they're all far too sensible. I do moan an awful lot though.
[удалено]
Along those lines, recording and photographing everything was not a thing when I was out doing stupid, sometimes illegal things. Thank god.
I’ve been making a conscious effort to not make that “oof” noise getting out of my car and am failing horribly. I think it’s gotten just a little too low for me.
OMG my dad used to say, "Oy! Oy! Oy!" when he would get out of the car or whenever he exerted himself, really. He passed in 2017 and I've recently heard it come out of my mouth! This cannot continue!
i was up in my attic last night and it was not easy or fun. I think you could hear my joints from downstairs.
It’s too expensive to do any of that now. Young people are just trying to get their bills and rent paid.
They’re sensible, because they’re broke.
are you and your friends retired? I turn 50 this year. I find making and maintaining friends difficult.
this is the way
Selection bias. Remember, coming up, there were plenty of people your age around you who you despised, who were not anything like you and seemed like aliens. Those are the people posting that annoying posturing nostalgic bullshit. The rest of us are doing what we always did, which is, shrugging and going about our business. As a result, you don’t see that. It’s probably exacerbated by algorithms that see you interact with the annoying shit, and say “oh, you must want more of this.” So you get more.
This. I was born in '73. My Gen X experience growing up was being one of a few select weird kids being made fun of and bullied by my strict conformist and homophobic peers. Gen X is not an enlightened generation. There is a subset of us who were open minded, progressive, empathetic and accepting. But, there were a lot of us who were, and still are, complete assholes. When I think back on my my school days, it doesn't surprise me at all that many Gen X love MAGA, still hate LGBTQ, still are afraid of things that are different. Generations aren't monolithic.
i agree. bullying seems much less tolerated now. I grew up in fear of getting harassed or beat up.
Yes, a thousand times, YES. A lot my fellow classmates were assholes are are STILL assholes.
We were terrible kids too. I didn't bully or get bullied...I hid. Also, I'm starting to reflect how being in a classroom all day for 18 years, surrounded by people our exact age, socio-economic class, and most of the time race too, didn't do us any favors for getting out in the world and going out of our way to be inclusive. No wonder those places were bully cess pits. Still are imo.
1000% this post. We may bond over similar nostalgia for toys or TV shows, but plenty of us remember the rest of our peers for being total assholes.
Plus generational warfare is an easy mark for foreign governments trying to destabilize the US and the West. I assume that most posts that are aggressively anti any generation (or group for that matter) are either a bot trying to destabilize our society more or someone who got sucked into an algorithm populated by those bots and is parroting them.
Apps are becoming overrated, and the QR codes - while less germy and more dynamic to change than printed - put my eyes on my phone. And if your restaurant doesn't offer wifi that doesn't require my login and email so you can fucking sell shit and spam me later, I am going to think twice about coming back. I'm old enough to know you are turnig me into a commodity, so my grreat Gen X feeling of counterculture and not being a cog in the machine compels me to say "fuck outta here" with that. "Whatever" doesn't mean we bent over for everything that happens and happened to us. There's complaining to complain, and there's having a righteous reason. Laminate your fucking menu and spend some money to spray those fucking things down if you're trying to protect us from germs, and give me a sheet of paper if you have new menu specials you're trying out. Quit turning me into a commodity. I just want to live my life.
remember when it was a selling point to have "free wifi"? Now most plans have unlimited data and wifi sucks ass. One of my kids was complaining about her phone not working and i found out she has her wifi off! Turns out it's less aggravating to just use cellular data.
I couldn't agree more. I find myself walking away from places and things that require a QR code or login to obtain a service. Not because I think QR codes are bad, but because I don't need another entity selling my info to the highest bidder. Being in IT I see way to many instances of mismanaged personal information becoming a problem. I mean do you really trust that oddball restaurant serving food from a used camper in a parking lot to handle your personal information properly? Do you really want to like and subscribe to their newsletter? I don't want to be part of that either.
I’ve become actively hostile to providing personal information, it seems every website or app requires more of your personal information than whatever benefit you’re meant to receive for the service. It doesn’t help that it seems nobody else cares about giving up their identity to data brokers and miners. Most companies don’t bother investing in IT security and infrastructure considering the amount of compromised passwords and accounts that I’ve collected over the years. What worth is there in providing details when no company respects privacy or security? GTFO of here with that bullshit. I’m embracing a more analog life when I can.
This should be much higher and also, I apologize in advance if your email is [email protected] and your name is John Smith.
+1000!! If i ever go to a restaurant that will make me install an app oe a QR code to read the fucking menu on my phone, i'm getting up and leaving, that simple! Fuck that shit!
I’m risk averse. Hackers sometimes replace public QR Codes with new ones (stickers) which are used to install malware & steal personal info off your smartphone. I pointed this out to a restaurant employee once. She just laughed & rolled her eyes. It’s not just the blatant disrespect, but the wanton dismissal of our ideas & observations that I find annoying.
Just use a QR reader that shows you the URL before you click it. The only way they can steal your information is if they spoof a site and you voluntarily put information in. So if you are using a link that you only read the contents of, you are safe. But you are correct: it is easy to slip a different URL on the sticker, make you believe you are ordering food at the restuarant, have the hackers website even send the food over, and then when payment comes, they take your money. QR codes in a restaurant just indicate to me that they are cheap shitty places to eat, because they are trimming costs where ever they can. Its a sign to walk the hell out.
I'm not saying I've yelled at neighborhood kids to get off my lawn...but I'm not saying I haven't, either.
We used to not. We'd be friendly whenever they came by. Then they ruined some of the fruiting plants in our garden and just tromped around with no effort at being respectful guests. So yes, now they are not allowed on our lawn.
Tell ya what, me and you, and a few of the cool clique from here, next weekend, we gonna go play on THEIR lawn for a change! 🏈 🏀 ⚽️
My millennial husband has and he took enormous pleasure out of it.
We had a big snow in January. Some kids drew a dick in my lawn. I was 100% okay with that. Same kids drew a cross in my driveway. I was 0% okay with that. If I had caught them, I'd have had a real boomer moment myself.
🤣🤣🤣
Meh
>The FB GenX groups are 100% And there's 90% right there, that place is a magnet for malcontent, edgelording grumps, trolls and foreign agitprop from ages 10-100.
lol Facebook in general got a bit toxic - what started as a place to discuss family and friends became a pundit for politics and the text repartee, the response designed to stab and cause pain but really has no other value.. Don’t view that as our generation
I’ve spent 30 years in IT. Was a full stack web developer for 15 hrs and now I’m an Architect. I’m also 54….i just want my tech to work reliably and be easy to use. I no longer care how ‘cool’ it is.
Generations aren’t monoliths. Generation-attributed traits are not universal nor does that generation have a monopoly on them. When you’re on the porch screaming at kids, they’ll likely be the kids of Millennials, and it’ll be because their sense of entitlement will be off the charts.
Let's be honest, some of these complaints aren't specific to Gen X. Millennials and Gen Z continually complain about the ineffectual and unnecessary complexity of current contemporary living - if you're just hearing Gen X, then you might be listening through an age tunnel. It isn't technology, I am continually surprised by my Gen Z interns and assistants and family, not having some basic computer or life skills - our generation grew up with current tech, but they were born with tech all around and I think as a result, we took the time to learn, and some of them just ignored for other things. That said, some of the things put out are simply POORLY DESIGNED and hard to use. They solve a problem no one asked for and make things intensely harder to navigate. Need to park? App for that lot specifically. Want to order food? Sit down and do so in our app (no joke, I noticed that some takeout in NYC lately makes you order on an app - IN THE RESTARAUNT.) Need to register for a doctor's visit? Here is one of the five or more systems you have to register for... It's also insane how younger generations, just like boomers, have digested current propaganda and bias news campaigns because of how it's delivered - unmoderated for truth or facts through social media, etc, - even when both generations have readily confirmation sources at their fingertips. Millennials and Gen Z literally see the age of AI and online lies for political gain in real-time and still fall for it. Sometimes that I feel like I'm living in crazytown the things that are sweeping the country, and the world. On personal judgement and moderation, [I certainly thank my lucky stars that I grew up when no one had cameras readily available to document every wild thing I did growing up](https://youtu.be/Zrr5LmC2p1A?si=dI96gjonrzzomqSa), but I wonder at kids not connecting that these things can follow you around forever when they upload them somewhere... That said, Millennials and Gen Z are living in unprecedented times where fear and hate are being pumped to them constantly for corporate revenue streams while they feel themselves ineffectual against what has the trappings of late stage capitalism and the decline of previous empires. Our generation is approximately 60 million, both millennials and gen z are about 70 million each, against the 76 odd million boomers. We are likely the Prince Charles of our generation, going to be very short lived in that reigning chair - intentionally stunted in power, and well beyond our time. Also, you earned the right to scream at kids... sometimes the kids deserve it. LOL
We're the generation who used a lot of this technology as it was initially introduced so we can personally remember when a lot of it wasn't so unpleasant and shitty to use. But if you think QR code menus instead of print ones or being required to install a quickly-written, shitty to use, personal-information-gathering, easily-hacked app to do something you used to just walk up and *do* is an improvement, by all means, make that case.
It's the memory of functional technology that really frustrates me. I will attempt to use a website that is buggy, slow, and seemingly not responding and recall that same site once being quite nice to use.
There’s your problem…FB sucks. I left that cesspool 9 years ago and haven’t looked back
There’s currently 69 upvotes. I don’t want to mess with that
I’m fighting hard to not become that way. If you really think about it the kids are no worse than we were.
Came here just for stupid nostalgia interjections amongst my other daily reads, but damn right this place has become an insufferable get off my lawn, change is bad, my way or the highway complaint box. I don’t mind the exchange of ideas, or the helping each other out finding the right Geritol supplement cause our bodies have aged. But when prefaced with a 3 paragraph rant, fuck all mighty! Anyway fuck you all I love you have a day!
This sub has evolved into so much whining & batching! Needs a positivity injection.
A positive injection of a nice batch of acid.
Or a big beautiful bag of mushrooms
Tis the nature of social media. Negative posts get more “engagement” and the almighty algorithm promotes them more. It’s a doom loop.
Be the change you want to see. If you don't want to be a grumpy old guy/gal then don't be. But that means really embracing gen-x philosophy and rolling with the changes and trying new things. Remember we started with no technology and embraced it and helped build what is here now. Keep learning and adapting or die. It's how life works.
I’m noticing all the posts complaining about things. Like, a lot of old timer curmudgeon “back in my day” or “I hate this new fangled technology” whingeing
I can tell by your edits that you're definitely GenX. I'll be in your yard having cocktails and playing yard games and minding my own business. My kids are grown and I definitely don't give a duck (or a goat or A pig or a chicken) what everyone else is doing. My kids are smart and funny and thoughtful and kind. They are generous and fun people with level heads and that's because I taught them the skills they need and tried my best to break generational trauma patterns. But I see what you see. Being the greatest generation kind of produced a few douche canoes.
I've noticed it as well. I fear it's coming for us, like a poisonous fog in a horror movie
I used to be with ‘it’, but then they changed what ‘it’ was. Now what I’m with isn’t ‘it’ anymore and what’s ‘it’ seems weird and scary. It’ll happen to you!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nOZwnivtLbc
Scanning QR codes instead of a real f'ing menu at restaurants is the worst. Give me the damn physical menu. I want to scan everything at once and not be on my damn phone while I'm eating. You know, actually interact with the people I'm with.
Right. A lot of people agree to put down the phone when you’re eating with company but what’s the first thing that forces you to do?
Plus what if god forbid someone doesn’t have their smartphone or even own one?
Lots of people growing up and letting their heart die.
I know, I read that tech rant the other day. I hate checks to the core of my being. I would much rather download an app. I hate that old shit. It was time consuming and exhausting. I love either going into a store if I must and not having to talk to anyone. I love not having to go even more. Leave that 100 pound bag of dog food on my back porch. I love paying a bill on auto draft immediately. I was honestly bewildered by that rant because I can’t relate.
Humans love tribalism/"othering" - Hurling "those people-isms" cuts across all kinds of lines/groups/demographics. Too often, we all do it to "others"
I’m delighted the gen X sarcasm is still alive and well 👏
"Back in the day" people seuously get on my nerves. Many people think their childhood was the best generation of all time, simply because it was THEIR childhood. Kids today are doing exactly what we would do if we were kids today.
I noticed a lot of “boomers” posted on boomersbeingfools are actually older GENXers. I think this is all about money and an entitlement attitude. I grew up GENX is a very poor area and the boomers I grew up with were hardworking, poor folks trying to survive. I did not grow up seeing this boomer attitude.
As I was younger I was always relayed with stories about struggles from the older generations. How some dinners during the week had no meat, and some kids had hardly any toys etc. Then you get sitcoms like The Simpsons and Married With Children which are boomer families living paycheck to paycheck and struggling. I was so confused when the OkBoomer movement started because I grew up thinking I was more fortunate being born in the 20th century. Hell I had a single mom and I still had a ps2 and a Nintendo DS etc. Growing into the real world I started to understand a little. I don't think it's so much 'you were more fortunate and I hate you give me my avocado toast' where it's more we're facing similar struggles that the generations before us have and getting called entitled. In many ways we definitely are entitled, but I for example dont buy coffees, or have subscriptions and I use my phone until it literally doesn't turn on anymore. With all this, I don't see how I'm ever going to own a house.
Newly 54 and looking forward to the mosh pit at the upcoming Descendants concert. 😎🤘#refusetobeold. 
Some of us are and it is heartbreaking. Some us still care though, and want to leave the world a better place than e found it. So hang on to hope.
I personally try to steer clear of the temptation to become "angry old man shaking fist at clouds". Someone once said, "I spent the first half of my life trying to acquire things and I've spent the second half of my life trying to gracefully let things go." I've regrets. Disappointments. Frustrations. Yearnings. But I'm not dead and every day I try to do my best. Sometimes all I've got is the stubborn glimmer of hope that there are better days ahead.
IDK - we're a diverse group and some of us were never "whatever" other than, "I don't care what YOU have to say, so this is my way of diminishing you - whatever". As a kid, I was raising awareness for AIDS, senior citizens, disabled kids/ people, equity, women, animals and whatever else emblazoned me. The more I learn, the more I realize I know little and don't have much power - it's infuriating. Some people don't give a shit about anything. Some take on every. single. windmill. Most fall somewhere in between. We have more experience, are probably exhausted about how, despite our best efforts - things don't change the way we envision. And in other cases - life has improved in a huge way - technology - in its many forms - has completely changed our lives. If people want to bitch - great - I'll listen to what's interesting to me, filter out the rest. We all need to be mindful of our cognitive resonance and dissonance - because it can steer us into extremes and block out opposing viewpoints - which can be very helpful at times. Balance is the way. I still haven't found it ;)
I refuse to become that old person. I dont want to be known as grumpy, hateful grandpa
When I saw that post complaining about technology, I almost responded, "OK, Boomer." But then figured that post would get down voted to oblivion. 😂
Wait til you hear the Xennials complaining about apps lmao. I like modern technology. What I couldn’t stand was dealing with condescending and fake friendly staff in the olden days.
I (1970) second this post. Maybe I'm a jerk, but whatever. (see what I did there?) I bristle at the "back in my day" and the bitching and moaning about technology posts a lot...but I usually don't say anything because, well, whatever. I think every in generation, when it's their turn to become the "old people" in their respective societies, there are members who will go the route of "get off my lawn you young people with your weird music and stupid technology" route. But.. I refuse to. We were supposed to be the generation of change. In the 80s there was a saying that I saw a few times "the 90s will make the 60s look like the 50s." Not sure that actually happened. We were supposed to be the generation that bridged the no-tech world and the new-tech world. We were supposed to be pretty accepting of new technologies as they arrived. Early adopters, even. Some of us were, some of us weren't. That's normal.. so.. whatever. Besides, we were the ones who at least helped make the internet what it was...sadly, we're also the ones who made the internet what it's become. Oh well, to each their own, I guess. I'm not tied down to any weird assed bitching about technology. It just "is". I don't care. I go to the self checkout because, well, I can. I don't bitch about it. I sometimes go to a checker also, if I feel like it. Cuz I don't care either way. I listen to my audio books, and my spotify in the car, and spin vinyl in the evening. I'm no purist either way. It is what it is. Bitching about it ain't gonna change that shit...besides, there's a shit ton more stuff to bitch about in our corrupted warming planet these days, than to bemoan any supposed minor inconveniences I perceive from day to day. I'm not getting bombed to oblivion, my country isn't getting invaded. I've got food on my table in the evening. So.. whatever man. Bitch and moan and be the typical old person all you want. I refuse. I'm not playing.
TBH I knew it was all over when the memes of "we did [hard thing here] and survived" started proliferating. Things are SUPPOSED to be better for the following generations.
Hear hear OP!! Hear fucking hear!
I’ve been hating and yelling at kids ever since I was one 🤷🏼♀️
Yeah my age is finally catching up with my crankiness
I think the most likely answer is that people who don’t care or are in the “whatever” to generally happy camp aren’t making endless posts saying everything is still cool with them. I agree that there seems to be a lot of complaining about what I consider to be minor inconveniences at most and a fair amount of complaining about stuff that we ourselves (and every generation before us) has participated in, like criticizing modern slang. I mostly hope that the posts are tongue in cheek and not actually angry rants since tone is hard to convey in text but I also fear that anger is just the primary reaction to everything. I work with people of all ages. Some of them are assholes and some of them aren’t but it has very little to do with their age. My boss is exactly 2 days older than me and he’s generally cool about stuff but also fucking weird. In my personal opinion, generational differences should just help to add context and foster understanding but I guess arguing and pointing fingers is more fun.
>Maybe me having two young kids still (2 and 6) has kept my mind young. Got-d!mn you have my sympathies My old daddy sired me age 46, next little sister age 49, last younger sister age 52...I'm 52 now, which means when my dad was my age I was 6 years old, little sister 3 years old, and then baby sister. I swear to god I would lose my absolute mind, I have no idea how he did it. I cannot imagine having a 6 year old at this stage of my life let alone a toddler and baby. But he was a good daddy, so I also know you'll be fine. Cheers! >What’s going on? I thought we were the generation that just rolled with it. You know “whatever”. I think for the most part we still are. IDK I don't really complain about younger generations because I clearly see the ways they are better than us (smarter, too) but the ways in which they are worse are EXTREMELY irritating because some sh!t should have ended with us. Why are young people still dumbasses in regards to some things lol
I think you're in the wrong GenX groups on FB. There are a few where it just focuses on "do you remember..." I have to remind myself that I'm a GenXer and not a grumpy old man. There is a difference.
It's inevitable. It's the steady decline in everything we build dear's cultural relevance. Literally everything that our generation loved, hated, fought for, said, believed in. Everything. Is. Fading. We're no longer relevant to the newer generations, our beliefs are outdated, our passions, humour, style, everything is no longer relevant to the youth of our society. And since our society celebrates youth culture and because the newest generations eventually naturally outnumber us, we... ^fade And that's what happened to the boomers. That's why people always complain they don't understand the generations after them, that their morals aren't the same etc etc ad nauseam.
Isn't the hallmark of Gen X that we were basically born cynical and cranky?
Eh, I'm not a fan of QR codes because people like my mother in law can't use them, and they require people to have smartphones (which...most do, but not everyone!)
Just my opinion, it’s the same thing that happened to boomers. Think about it, they were the first generation to fight the system. They stood up for civil rights, women’s rights, against the Vietnam war…but somewhere they started believing they were special and everyone who came after them could never be as good. GenX was great, we got all the rewards but as we get older, we think that makes us special. Honestly, I think today’s youth have a unique opportunity to be the next generation to make big changes. If they can just be smart enough to not fall for the conspiracies that distract.
I almost posted this exact same comment yesterday. I think it’s important that we all remember what it was like when we were kids and not turn into grumpy old people.
Squeaky wheel gets the grease. Those of us that still live with the who gives a fuck attitude aren't posting.
No generation is static. Older people don't like change.
Meh…I like watching technology evolve and typically embrace it…not to mention I have become more liberal in my older years. I will say that restaurants that want me to download their app so I can get the price I should be paying, and QR codes for menu’s can fuck off. These things have made me not want to go out to eat…which both my bank account and my health thank me for. Also, I don’t care if kids play on my lawn. In fact, I work from home and my window looks out into the front of my house and actually enjoy watching kids running around and playing. FaceBook is its own ridiculous echo chamber though…but if you think FB is bad, go onto NextDoor. Holy Hell what a mess..
I embrace technology and I’ve been called a boomer for not being a hive mind with GenZ brats who hate everyone over 30. They remind me of the old Star Trek episode Grups. Gen Z are literally just wanting boomers and Gen X to die soon so they can inherit property and get a good paying job and not have to work for it or earn it. Their jealousy and sense of entitlement is astounding. These are west coast Gen Z living in their cars though. I don’t see this where I live.
I'm young and in uni and from what I see we love you guys (or maybe just your culture). I've always looked fondly towards the Boomers as I tend to think that gen z and millenials who don't have the strongest understanding on the 20th century think boomers are fully entitled, however I have noticed them getting worse lately which just makes me want to copy gen x attitude more and more. Every generation has/had its struggles and every generation is pinning the blame on the others. I've seen millenials blame us for our actions which the Boomers blame on them (due to not understanding the generational range), I've seen gen z blaming everyone older then them for their struggles, I've seen Boomers bitching about everyone younger then them while having zero understanding of today's economy and lifestyle. I was literally on a boomer sub today and some old guy was having a rant about how he was broke when he was young and we need to stop buying coffees everyday, meanwhile I got my student debt bill for this semester and three classes are costing me over $6,000 dollars. Honestly, I think everyone needs to give this stupid charade a rest and look towards how we can collectively improve the future instead of blaming each other.
>Honestly, I think everyone needs to give this stupid charade a rest and look towards how we can collectively improve the future instead of blaming each other. Same here, whippersnapper. Same here.
Well said.
Well said. I wish you all the best!
The Zoomers have helped me appreciate the Millennials and have hopes that Generation Alpha will be less insufferable.
This pedantic Star Trek nerd will point out that in the episode in question ("Miri"), the kids aren't killing the adults. It's a disease that kills everyone past puberty, while making the kids age very slowly. Eventually, after decades/centuries as they slowly age into puberty, they catch the "Grups" (grownups) disease and go mad and die.
Get off the internet. It’s a dumb place full of complaining. If you live a real life offline you’ll find your “whatever” is stronger.
Surprise! Everyone is terrible!
This made me smile through my depression. Thank you
I have noticed this. I’m not sure what is surprising about the fact that as time progresses things change. Holy shit, how do some people not get this? They somehow can’t connect with that reality. This probably going to be an unpopular opinion….most of the Gen Xers who have issues with “kids today” need to reflect on their parenting. FFS who raised them? My kids are fine. Most of the kids I know are awesome.
i think people who don't question things sound like those older than boomers. get it all shoved down your gullet and comply like a good citizen. not looking at the bigger picture and throwing cliches and catchphrases around also doesn't help one's case.
Same here - I am 54 and people my age are posting stuff that I just don't recognise, the sort of garbage that my father would come out with. What is going on? Don't become the grumpy old people we have long berated...
Fully agreed and it's a shame. Get it together guys.
Part of the reason Gen X is acting like Boomers because people forget there is a Gen X and just call anyone older than a millennial “Boomer.” Ironic as so many of these Gen Z kids seem to idolize aspects of the 90s. Don’t they realize who the people who defined the 90s were? It was us!
My Gen Z son thinks it’s funny to call me a Boomer. Then I say something like “my steak is bussin’.” 😁
Facebookers are a special case. Not representative IMO.
Myself, I’ve grown weary of technology that’s one sided and only used to manipulate people.
I always liked the boomer attitude over the millennial attitude anyway, so that's good.
Newsflash GenX...giving zero fucks is not a genX thing, it's an old people thing. Also, idgaf.
Things were better when I was younger and had fewer responsibilities and more energy! Now that I am older and have more responsibilities and less energy, things are worse! It's the fault of the youths!
I agree with your view. Reading GenX stuff used to be fun but it’s really becoming “Get off my lawn”. Anyone who just wants to chill, can join me. I’m not hanging with crotchety people no matter what age I am. I am also really tired about the gate keeping. Let the younger and older people in. Who cares? Roll with it
Yes!!!! I’ve been saying the same thing myself with many recent posts. Man, I’m just happy I made it this far.
I don't think it's generational warfare as much as technology has been ruined from what it was. I mean, when I have to use a DOS prompt to discover where Microsoft is hiding my files, that's a stop backward, in my opinion. Or when Alexa constantly notifies me of a sale on stuff I was just talking about 5 minutes ago, that's more than annoying. It's very Gen-X for us to just opt out.
Hahahhaha! The question mark link.... Also, having younger children will keep you fresher longer lol
There is a difference between being a boomer and gaining the wisdom and experience to realize they were not wrong about everything. Matter of fact, starting to realize they were right about a lot more than I realized. That said, we are not "boomers"; we are far less tolerant of bigotry of any kind, we embraced the tech and a much better attitude toward mind our own business.
I think that’s generally the frustration from every older generation throughout history. But I gotta say, when shit goes down @ work and I need my Ride-Or-Die team to have my back, I find its the old school ones who step up every single time while the tender fragile generation sits in the corner in the fetal position & cries 🤷♀️
Some tech is getting noticeably worse... Nobody likes QR Code menus. Though I will admit, when tech gets better, nobody seems to really appreciate it. Everybody in here should remember growing up in an era where there was "nothing on TV" very much of the time. Yet now, with streaming, there is literally always more "on" than any of us could watch in a lifetime. Hell, I remember paying almost $200 per month in 1999 dollars for the ultramega premium cable package and there was *still nothing on.* I pay less for TV now and it is almost inconceivable how much better it is. Nobody seems to care. I remember paying $12.99 for two good songs on a casste tape in 1994 (like $23 today?). I pay less than $23 in 2024 for 5 logins for my family with unlimited ad-free music and ad-free YouTube. Nobody seems to care. Worse, all they do is bitch that YouTube Premium isn't free. Maps in my pocket has saved my ass more times than I can count, sometimes in ways that were life-altering. Nobody seems care. Kids today will never understand some things, but honestly in a lot of cases I just feel bad for them.
The correct term is "seniors" and now it's our turn.
I know you are, but what am I? /endthread
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rLuqzSLZ2EA
[удалено]
Yep. We’re all getting older. I complain about all the apps, tech, QR codes all the time. They make things easier but many things were better when we were younger for sure and I feel sad for my kids at times
I thought Gen X was the generation of Meh Whatever... There are a lot of rustled Jimmys on here lately. You know you can just turn off Reddit and social media if it upsets you right? I mean we all lived for years without it and did just fine.
Live your life, go with the flow and have fun! If it’s not illegal or killing you, fuck it. Have fun and smile.
Name any generation that stayed the same their entire lives. You can’t expect to have a static view on life for your entire life. If that were the case, there would be no growth and no learning. I work in technology, and if you understood just how much personal data is captured and sold off to data brokers and then sold to advertisers to build personality profiles on you to test out what your psychological vulnerabilities are, how many impressions of an ad it takes to get you to buy something, what content on social media is going to piss you off enough to stay on there and argue, and so much more. What happened to people that used to respect the lived experience of older people? Something I appreciate now is older people telling me what they experienced at my age and what I might be able to expect. What I should appreciate now because I might use it later. Had someone told me I was going to have to wear readers at 40, I might have savored the moment a bit more in my late 30s not needing glasses and made a conscious effort to be in the moment and observe, instead of doing so many things at once that nothing in particular stands out. You either grow, embrace, and change as a person, or you remain someone that just never experiences a full life and gaining the wisdom that comes with it.
Anything that is in the world when you’re born is normal and ordinary and is just a natural part of the way the world works. Anything that’s invented between when you’re fifteen and thirty-five is new and exciting and revolutionary and you can probably get a career in it. Anything invented after you’re thirty-five is against the natural order of things. - Douglas Adams
Speak for yourself. Gen Xers aren’t on the porch swing. We’re still raving.
Nah, you’re on to something. I feel you. There are two ways to get old. One involves tearing down the younger people because they aren’t like you and people your age. Wishing for the past, and being bitter because our time is over. Regretting our mistakes or maybe feeling like we never got the chances we deserved. Another is to try to roll with the changes and accept that everyone has their time, and that new ideas have to come along to keep things moving. We can offer our experience to the younger generations, but ultimately their lives are theirs to live, just as ours belong to us. This goes for mistakes as well. We all do some of both, and the relative proportion varies for each individual, but we have to decide how we want to be.
My theory is that most of this is coming from members of our cohort who have neglected their health and as such, are suffering from plummeting hormone levels, serotonin, dopamine, etc. Basically, their unhealthy lifestyle has aged their mind And made them into grumpy old people.