Older generations love giving advice and telling younger people things. While there are plenty of life lessons to learn from older people, young people are tired of hearing some of the outdated advice boomers have to give younger generations.
What Are You Tired of Hearing From Older Generations?
Someone asked, “Younger people of Reddit. What are you tired of hearing from older generations?” and the answers were interesting and informative. Here are the best ones.
Some of the answers have been edited for clarity and length.
Job Advice
khosrork via DepositPhotos.com.
“Literally any and all job advice,” someone wrote, “Sorry, Deborah, but you’ve worked the same unionized position for 30+ years. The number of valuable insights you can give me about the modern labor landscape numbers somewhere between diddly and squat. And Hank literally drops the “walk downtown handing out resumes and shaking hands” line without awareness or irony.”
Times have changed, and the job market has changed tremendously. What worked once does not work now.
Buy a House
This is kind of good advice, except that young people very often cannot afford to buy a house, even if they skimp and save.
One person wrote, “My mom and I got into a fight over housing affordability. ‘Your father (55)and I (53) worked very hard to afford this house (175k), and you make more than we did at the time we bought (1992)’. The house now is worth about 1.5m, my mom didn’t work, and my dad made 100k/year. I make 150k, and houses in my price range are 600k 1hr+ away from where I want to be and less than half size with less than half the lot.”
No Injury
One person answered, “Anything to the effect of “young people can’t have back pain (or any other physical disability).” Like, dude, I wish being in my twenties made me immune to being injured. But that’s literally just not how the human body works.”
Someone added, “Yup. In my 20s also, and I have severe back and neck pain from a car accident. Any time I mention that Im hurting (which is all the time, but I only say something when it’s so bad I can’t move). I’m dramatic or too young to know real pain.”
More Life Experience
“‘I have more life experience than you…” then proceeds to go on an emotionally stunted rant based on their own personal bias due to trauma they refuse to process because “they know best,” someone answered.
Life experience can be good to learn from, and younger people can appreciate the wisdom, but just because you have experience doesn’t make you right.
Spend All Day on Screens
“(34), I’m sick of hearing about how young people just spend all their time on tik tok, how they have stupid dances. How they’re just staring at screens all day, blah blah blah,” someone responded.
They continued, “Yes, they do all that stuff, but we had stupid dances when we were younger. We sat in front of the TV all day. I’ve yet to see someone with square eyes.”
No One Wants to Work Anymore
Someone said, “First of all, no one ever wanted to work. That’s why it’s called, “work,” and not “fun.” Second of all, maybe it’s that no one wants to work at your job that lists itself as entry-level but wants 5 years of experience and a master’s degree along with being able to work 12-hour days at minimum wage.””
Another added, “Companies don’t want to pay a fair wage, and people don’t want to be taken advantage of and treated like s***anymore.”
When You’re Older, You’ll Agree With Me
“Just because you’re older doesn’t mean you’re always right or that you know the answers to all my life’s problems. You grew up in a different time period, with different problems and different social views. Your problems might be similar, and you might be right some of the time, but that is no excuse to shut down every logical point I make against your beliefs with this line,” someone explained.
I Had Kids at Your Age
“‘When I was your age, I already had 5 kids and two grandchildren’ or ‘My granddaughter is your age, and she already has 3 kids. When are you going to give your mom some grandkids?!” someone wrote.
They continued, “I’m 30. Not that old, not that young. But this kind of comment? Definitely old for me. I’m so tired of older ladies saying this. I think I wasn’t even 18 when they started! They don’t accept any reasonable answer that isn’t an “I’m working on it.” A “maybe later,” or “I’m doing my best to get a steady career before having kids,” or “we are saving”? Gets them on a rampage, saying some bs about kids not costing a thing and that I’m getting old or that women were born to be mothers or whatever… So I started being rude. Sorry, but not sorry.”
Young People Are Terrible
“I’m tired of people complaining about how younger people are terrible as though they weren’t the ones that raised those younger people to be what they are,” someone wrote.
Good point!
Participation Trophies
“These millennials and their d*** participation trophies.” wrote one person, but as they said, “Who the f*** were the ones handing them out? They weren’t giving them to themselves as children.”
Someone questioned, “Did anyone else here actually ever get one? I think I remember what they called a “consolation prize” at hockey tourneys when I was a little dude, but I didn’t get jack s*** at school. Seems like it’s not a universal thing, at least.”
Can’t Do Anything
One person shared a good point, “How we can’t fix anything ourselves. Then promptly ask us to fix their WiFi, set up their new phone, and figure out why their computer is running slow. We can do plenty; we just have a different skill set!”
One person shared a personal story, “No joke, my dad did this time me. I didn’t know how to change my tire on my car at 18 (he never showed me), complained about it, and told me to figure it out. Not 10 minutes later, his wifi went out, and asked me to fix it. I told him to figure it out.”
Why Aren’t You Married?
“Just had someone the other day ask me “so why aren’t you married?” I’m like.. if I met someone worth marrying, then I would!” someone answered.
“Best response to this is,” someone quipped, “Supply chain issues.”
Believing Anything on the Internet
“I hate how we’ve gone from me getting Facebook as a teenager and my parents being like “DON’T BELIEVE EVERYTHING YOU SEE ON THE INTERNET” to them sending me “medical research” from unverified/unreputable sources,” someone answered.
You Have It So Easy
Krakenimages.com via DepositPhotos.com.
“You kids had it so easy growing up, and now your kids have it easier than that,” someone wrote, “THAT’S THE F**** POINT! WE’RE SUPPOSED TO MAKE IT EASIER FOR THE NEXT GENERATION!!!!! Edit: I should add that Boomers and Gen Xers say this stuff, yet IT ISN’T EASIER! Life is hard and expensive because they ruined it. And they continue to ruin it but call us lazy because it’s beyond our power and ability to fix.”
Pull Yourself up by Your Bootstraps
“Pull yourself up by your bootstraps and work harder,” someone wrote, “Buddy, I’ve been working 60+ hours a week, and prices keep going up, and my pay is not, and I actually cannot afford to change jobs, change my living situation, buy a more fuel efficient car, or go to college. There actually is no out. There is no work harder, and I’ll make it. I’m literally in the poverty trap. I’m slowly making my way out of it, but it’s going to be a long a** time unless some other opportunity magically appears. College isn’t the price of a McDouble anymore, old man.”
Video Games Are a Waste of Time
belchonock via DepositPhotos.com.
“Video games are a waste of time,” someone wrote, “Says the boomer dips*** sitting on the couch, sitting on his phone with Fox News playing in the background.”
“Got told the same thing by an old person for reading a book, lmao,” added another.
Gratitude
An older person chimed in, “I’m not younger, but I’m fed up with some older people expecting gratitude “for all that they have done” while taking zero responsibility for the problems that they will leave future generations.”
Someone suggested a snarky reply, “Be sure and tell them “thank you for your service,” and then make some other wisecrack when they say they aren’t a veteran, like “I just assumed from the way you were talking you made those kinds of sacrifices for our great country.”
Calling Everyone Young “Millennials”
“I’m an older millennial. I have a good job, own a house, am married, and have two kids,” someone wrote, “It is 2022, and at least half the times I hear someone older reference “millennials” it’s talking about people who are currently the age my cohort was 22 years ago when the millennium was a thing.”
“Apparently,” someone wrote, “”Millennial” = “Anyone younger than my cohort” “Boomer” = “Anyone older than my cohort”
So Sensitive
“How sensitive we are,” someone wrote, “I made a comment on a YouTube video calling a gay couple cute, and some f**** boomer stalked my YouTube channel and felt the need to insult me several times. Like I’m not the sensitive one in this situation.”
““You need to stop being such a snowflake,” they say as they proceed to violently s*** themselves in anger witnessing two men hug each other,” someone responded.
Homeless People Have iPhones
Someone said, “I hate the whole “all these homeless people have iPhones” complaint. You have literally 0 chance of getting out of poverty if you can’t access the internet. And a smartphone is cheaper than a laptop. The internet is used for EVERYTHING, not just candy crush.”
Another person added, “It’s almost like a phone is cheaper than a 1300k apartment.”
On Your Phones
“You kids and these d*** phones…”My parents are on their phones more than I am by a lot,” one person said.
Someone shared, “40 yo man here. My generation and the generation before were also always on their d*** phones. It’s just that these phones were attached to the wall, but otherwise, teenagers used to spend several hours every evening just talking with their friends.”
No One Plays Outside
“I do love the complaints about kids not playing outside anymore nowadays,” someone wrote, “Especially by people from the generation who did everything in their power to make just being outside aggressively terrible. Either through a large decrease in the number of places kids can play, an increase in the number of cars and just vehicles in general, or by making laws against things like simply hanging out. Of course, we’re going to prefer being on the phone over that.”
Parents can’t let their kids out to play anymore. It’s dangerous, and you can get in trouble with the law.
Your Generation Is Soft
“That our generation is soft,” someone wrote. “I was born in the late ’90s, so I’ve never experienced the America they love to reminisce about. I’ve only known an America that’s post 9/11, constantly in a state of war, suffering from financial crashes and recessions, unsustainable housing, and now we’ve been through a deadly pandemic as well as the most civil unrest we’ve seen in the past decade or so. With the potential of war on the horizon, given the Ukraine invasion, I really just want to punch any old person in the mouth when they say we’re weak-minded and unprepared. I think we’ve earned our stripes and then some at this point.”
Avocados and Lattes
Alexander_Ku via DepositPhotos.com.
“Avocado toast and expensive coffee is the reason millennials can’t afford a house. Never heard anything so stupid, but I hear it all the time,” someone wrote.
It would take a lot of avocado toast and lattes to save up money to buy a half-a-million-dollar house!
You Don’t Know How the World Works
“That I don’t know how the world works, from people who get all their news from Fox and Facebook,” someone wrote.
Boomers Had It Hard
One person is “Tired of hearing Boomers act like they had it hard.”
Another gave more context, “Yes. My mum tells me how hard it was for them with their first home…. Which they bought when she was 20, as a teller and an apprentice mechanic. Oh, and it was an actual house with land in a decent suburb. Meanwhile, my husband and I saved for 7 years on well-paid jobs for our apartment. But she assures me it was harder for them.”
Making Life Easier vs Easier Life
One person wrote, “this is a very important comparison people often miss. People get caught up in “we didn’t have cellphones,” and we worked hard. they had it easy not because we perceive it that way but because they did have it easier. One income raised a family; that’s a fact. You could walk into most jobs without formal education, fact. You were paid much more in proportion to the cost of living. The average Joe back then were much better off, and they seem to have a unique ability to not be able to see it’s different today.”
Technology
vlue via DepositPhotos.com.
Yet another person added, “I think they’re also conflating technology making life “easier” with it being “easier” to scrape together a decent living. Yes, cell phones and the internet have added incredible amounts of convenience to our lives, and yes, they weren’t around when you were young and fresh-faced. THAT’S DIFFERENT FROM BEING ABLE TO AFFORD COLLEGE AND A HOME AS A MILKMAN & HOUSEWIFE WITH THREE KIDS.”
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This post originally appeared on A Dime Saved.