Baby Boomers are infamous for one behavior: complaining. As they’ve experienced a life of cultural and political unrest, their voice is never silent. Paired with the placard and pillar of old age, society sees their wrinkles as impatience rather than wisdom.
We can make excuses for their sighs and groans, attributing them to ignorance and inexperience with technology and ever-changing trends. However, social media may have created a bridge between generations because there are four boomer complaints that younger generations are getting on board with, because they are actually pretty terrible.
A Reddit post simply asked, “What’s the most boomer complaint you have?” In a moment of blinding brilliance, a user simply shared: “Stop making me make accounts. A lightbulb that changes colors shouldn’t require an account. A TV speaker shouldn’t require an account.”
Every new account illuminates how dependent humans are on technology. The account saves and cinches the attachment, chaining the user to a password and adding inconvenience. One user humorously shared, “I have to have a login to make an appointment to have my kid’s hair cut at the kids place in my neighborhood. They won’t even [expletive] make an appointment in person anymore.”
Another commenter wrote: “Please create a username and password” as a form of “rage bait.” Rage bait recently made Oxford’s Word of the Year as “shines a light on the content purposefully engineered to spark outrage and drive clicks…; they reveal how digital platforms are reshaping our thinking and behaviour.”
Subscriptions are the reason my email account’s storage is full. As the promotions tab takes the bulk of the percentage and will most likely end up in the spam folder, I can only unsubscribe from so many websites with 10 fingers and 24 hours in my day. Thinking about the carpal tunnel I might develop, I support my elders, crack my fingers, stretch my wrists, and feel for their arthritis.
: Young People Share 8 Things Boomers Actually Got Right
With cable marketed toward people with the attention span to sit through a commercial without the fast-forward button, streaming services are the new normal for household entertainment. Accessible anywhere and on any device, it’s convenient with a subscription, yet these companies added advertisements for exclusivity and privatization reasons. People carried pitchforks.
In a TikTok video labeled “Boomer complaints that I actually agree with,” @StoopidComedy criticized Hulu’s ad change, “I pay 16 dollars a month…with no ads, and y’all still find ways to show me ads. I don’t care if it’s just 10 seconds….Let me finish my show.”
He expressed his frustration, and I understand when that monthly charge is subtracted from my bank account. It carries deceit in its shadows. Fine print isn’t nice to boomers or me when we don’t have our glasses or the time to read that nonsense.
: The Common Sense Generation: 11 Things Boomers Do Way Better Than Anyone Else
QR codes are a means to help everyone with a smartphone access information like a menu in their palm, conserving paper and reducing germ spread. However, QR codes are exclusionary when my flip phone takes a few minutes to load its camera and is unable to let a pop-up pass through its lower technology.
A Gen Z Reddit thread continued the discussion with these opening lines: “I hate QR code menus. Give me the plastic-covered menu that hasn’t seen a Clorox wipe in years.”
In that same TikTok video, he broke down the process of ordering from walking in, to using your own device just to use their self-service POS system, and sitting down to wait for his food. It’s more self-sufficient, yet less interactive. To lose the human experience in favor of greater dependence on technology is disheartening.
It’s frustrating living in a world where sales tax is attached to all goods and services we want and need. We, consumers, support and keep the economy cycling for these businesses, so why isn’t my old green paper enough for you?
Galdric PS |Shutterstock
In loving memory of the penny, I empathize. I stand tall with my coin purse in hand, embracing tradition and a protest with posters and flags in the streets in my head. However, I surrender when it’s the only option I have, tapping a card and waiting for the beep.
Bottom line, the position boomers and younger cohorts are finding common ground, all centered around the inconvenience of another’s peace. I’m with them on these four, and anyone who isn’t is lying!
: 5 Old-Fashioned Hobbies Baby Boomers Grew Up With That Are Trendy Again
Emi Magaña is a writer from Los Angeles with a bachelor’s in English. She covers entertainment, news, and the real human experience.
