Recently, we mined Reddit and asked younger generations in our own BuzzFeed Community to share things they appreciate about boomers, or beliefs, values, or actions they think boomers get 100% right. Here's what they said:
1. "I agree that I don't want to talk to an AI Bot! If I have a question, issue, or need assistance, let me talk to a human being who is able to understand what I am saying. Don't make me jump through the AI hoop!"
2. "In my own experience, older generations were far more DIY-friendly when it came to pretty much everything. Building, repairing, cooking, etc. Whether that was a mindset based on a lack of finances, I am not sure."
3. "I remember birthdays or mark them in a calendar and will send a text or card. So many people have told me they appreciate me remembering, knowing I don’t have social media to remind me. It means a little more to them knowing I remembered and reached out."
4. "They generally see voting as an absolute must. They don't need to be persuaded by someone. They just vote every time there's an election whether it's local or federal. I wish that tendency would have carried on more."
5. "The ability to negotiate with car salesman."
6. "Saying 'just be home by dinnertime.' I'm a Gen X'er raised by Boomers, and we'd just disappear into the neighborhood, woods, whatever for hours and no one raised a fuss. As long as you were back for dinner. Or, if it was summertime and after dinner, home by dark. Which could really sneak up on you if you were outside in it."
7. "WHY do restaurants have to be so darn dark? Turn the lights on, I can't see the menu or my date! I get crabby every time about it."
8. "Why do I need a subscription for everything? I want to own my software and basic services should be included."
9. "Boomers are more OK with mediocrity. Millennials are obsessed with hustle culture and if you're not working a job with two side gigs or pursuing your passion, they think you're not doing anything at all."
"It's OK to clock into a boring job, clock out, chill with a friend, go to bed, rinse and repeat. A lot of younger people either have forgotten or haven't learned how to enjoy the little things in life yet and appreciate life for what it is, instead of being sad about what it isn't."
10. "They're better conversationalists. Like sometimes they talk too much to the point of rambling and going in circles, but I find my Boomer coworkers are much better at just randomly talking up various people from outside our organization and making friends and small talk with strangers."
11. "Appliances don't need computers in them. All these fancy fridges/stoves/washers/dryers are all breaking so much faster and are unfixable when they do break because we keep cramming so much crap into them."
"The cost of these items should mean that they're long lasting, when instead, their lifespan is getting shorter and shorter. Basic mechanics on appliances were so much better."
12. "I'm 26, so a Cusper here. I cannot stand reading books or long articles online. When I had to take online English classes, I printed everything out. EVERYTHING."
13. "Life before social media, like being able to enjoy simple things without feeling like you have to make a post with pictures for people to see."
"I have a family member who has their phone out constantly taking pictures and making posts. I now have to ask not to have my picture taken and not to be in any photo posted. I don’t want everyone knowing where I am, what I look like, or that I am in town visiting."
14. "Asking workers at grocery where a certain item is."
–Anonymous
15. "Showing up to things you said you would and not flaking at the last minute! Before cellphones you HAD to show up to meet someone when you said, and couldn’t text last minute saying something came up."
16. "Please give me a real menu. My phone hates QR codes."
17. "Texting, while convenient for many things, is not an equivalent replacement for chatting on the phone with a loved one or an old friend."
18. "My grandmother still ends calls with 'well, I don’t want to run up your phone bill,' which I adore and will use if I ever talked in the phone."
Now let's flip it. What is something older generations did that you're glad is no longer the norm? Let us know in the comments.
Note: Some responses have been edited for length/clarity.