Everyone likes to joke about boomers and how they’ve ruined this or that, but are there some things that they got right all along? Experience has to count for something, doesn’t it?
In a recent online discussion, the topic was what were boomers right about all along. When do you think the boomers had it right?
Kids Don’t Need Cell Phones
These days, everyone has a cell phone, including little kids. Having a phone might not be so bad, but having access to the entire internet with a swipe of your fingers might not be in their best interest, either.
One man said, “The smartphone ownership for kids is baffling to me. It makes me feel like a super boomer, but knowing the stuff they get up to, it’s pretty harmful in many cases.”
No One Needs 24/7 Access to You
Everyone has a cell phone, so it is very easy to get in touch with people any time of the day or night. However, this isn’t healthy. No one deserves access to you 24/7, and you have every right to disconnect whenever you want for some “me” time.
One person said it best, “Just because I own a phone does not obligate me to answer it 24/7. Same goes for my front door, texts, gamified apps where I have messages to respond to in my Fitbit app, fasting app, meditation app, hitt app, book club app, reddit, work email, school email, private email, alt ID email, DUO, WhatsApp, Messenger, Zoom, Amazon messages, omg stop I don’t want to be reached 24/7! All of this connectivity and there’s no way to stay on top of it. Remember flip phones and internet cafes? I love people, but I need a moment.”
Sending Thank-You Cards Is the Right Thing to Do
When someone has taken the time to give you a thoughtful gift, you should send an appropriate thank-you card or at least a text to let them know you appreciate it.
One person said, “Sending out thank you notes when you receive a gift from someone. My mom was always big on that and I understand why. I bought an expensive gift for my friends birthday and she never messaged me or said thank you for the gift. Saying thank you isn’t that hard and it means a lot to the person.”
Nothing Is Made to Last
It seems as though products made today are just designed to be disposable. Nothing is made to last anymore, and everything breaks easily, even with normal use.
One person said, “Absolutely everything is disposable nowadays. Nothing is made to last anymore. If you find something you like, it’ll be worn out in a year and probably not made anymore when you want to buy a replacement.”
Helicopter Parenting Raises Dependent Children & Adults
Yes, children need to be guided and even supervised, but they don’t need an adult breathing down their neck 24 hours a day. How can they make mistakes and learn and grow from them?
One person said, “The helicopter parenting, over-protectiveness, lack of physical activity and social stunting due to kids and teens being unable to do literally anything on their own,‘ creating dependent personalities.’”
Someone else said, “People are way too overprotective of kids these days. It’s making for anxious adults who aren’t confidant in their own abilities.”
Social Media Was a Mistake
At face value, social media seemed like a great thing. You could connect with friends and family around the world. How wrong we were.
One person said, “Social Media was a mistake. I genuinely think that it is single handedly one of if not the most damaging things to the world that’s happened in the past however many years.” Someone else said, “Social media as an idea is actually pretty nice. Just very, very quickly and inevitably it becomes extremely toxic.”
Self Reliance Is an Important Skill
Today, most people don’t try to fix things themselves. They either hire someone to do it or just buy a new item to replace it. It’s easier than ever to learn how to do things yourself, and it builds character and self-esteem.
One man said, “Doing your own work is rewarding and builds character. I’ve noticed a lot of younger people’s first response to things breaking or needing to be replaced is to hire a repair person or to just buy a new item, without attempting to fix it with their own two hands. Doing it yourself teaches you a skill that you can use to help your friends and family, makes you smarter and more well rounded, and will also help keep you calm and cool in the face of life’s frustrations.”
We Don’t Need an App For Everything
These days, you need an app for everything, from saving $1 on your cheeseburger, entering your gym, or starting your car. There is an individual app for everything now, and it’s annoying.
One woman said, “I hate how literally everything these days has a stupid app that you need to have in order to use it. Everything from kids toys to cars needs some sort of app these days. Why!? What if you plan on having this item for a long while and the app either gets deleted, gets malware, or just doesn’t function due to the company not updating it? You would have to throw it out causing more waste in this world. This is planned obsolescence just disguised as being technologically advanced.”
Spend Your Money On What Matters
One thing boomers definitely got right was what it is important to spend money on. If you don’t, you’ll pay for it, maybe not with money, but with pain.
One person said, “Spend your money where you spend your time. Shoes, bed, chair for work, chair/couch for home, car (at least car seat). You’ll spend almost all of your life in these things. Make sure they’re comfortable.”
Smart Product Spies
Some people are perfectly happy to have their whole home and everything in it connected to the internet. Others are very uncomfortable knowing that all of those products are watching and listening to what’s going on in their home.
One potential future parent said, “If I ever have kids, I’d absolutely be this kind of parent. No smart stuff in my house and grouching how back in my day, we figured out the light bulb needed changing when it was busted and we liked it because nobody was spying on us. They won’t get it, they’ll grow up thinking that caring about privacy is outdated, and I probably can’t prevent that.”
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This thread inspired this post.
I’m John Schmoll, a former stockbroker, MBA-grad, published finance writer, and founder of Frugal Rules.
As a veteran of the financial services industry, I’ve worked as a mutual fund administrator, banker, and stockbroker and was Series 7 and 63-licensed, but I left all that behind in 2012 to help people learn how to manage their money.
My goal is to help you gain the knowledge you need to become financially independent with personally-tested financial tools and money-saving solutions.
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