Sitting down for twenty minutes to eat scrambled eggs feels either luxurious or wasteful depending on your generation. Some of these "old-fashioned" habits might be worth a second look. Let's explore what's still happening in boomer households (like mine, although I kinda don't like that word 'Boomer) every morning that younger generations left behind years ago.
A tip of the hat to VegOut.com for the inspriation for this...
1. Reading a physical newspaper with breakfast
2. Making the bed immediately after waking up
3. Eating a proper sit-down breakfast
4. Using a physical address book
5. Listening to morning radio shows
6. Writing checks for monthly bills
7. Calling instead of texting
When us old-school types need to communicate something, whether it's confirming plans or checking in with family, they pick up the phone and call. Not text. Not message. Call. With their voice. Expecting you to answer and have a conversation in real time.
For younger people, an unexpected phone call triggers mild panic. What's the emergency? Why didn't they just text? Phone calls require immediate attention and feel intrusive. We - us old folk - aren't rushing through our lives trying to optimize every minute. We're doing things the way we've always done them, and there's a kind of steadiness in that.
Are younger generations more efficient? Absolutely. Technology has made almost everything faster and easier in countless ways. But efficiency isn't everything. Some of these "outdated" habits create space for presence, intentionality, and connection that our optimized routines have squeezed out.
Buy yourself a present for Christmas...
They also give you time to process information, evaluate alternatives, and come to well-reasoned conclusions.
ReplyDelete(No wonder they get upset with us!)
Newspapers are a waste and nothing but propaganda, what's the point of a physical address bok when I longer waste the money on a land line, checks are easily stolen, and frankly I don't want to talk on the phone to address simple issues.
ReplyDelete#6-We write them as opposed to on-line, due to the added fees for online pay.
ReplyDeleteI do #6 - in our household, one of us writes paper checks, the other has had her online bank account raided three times.
ReplyDeleteI also do #7 when the texter is trying to type a long paragraph to explain something
Mark in PA
“Do you think cavemen had the time to sit around in the morning eating cereal and waffles?” … Billy Bob in Landman reasoning that Kellogs is to blame for promoting breakfast as the most important daily meal.
ReplyDeleteOne thing I really do miss is the morning newspaper - one that was affordable and reported the news with relatively little bias. But I'm not paying $5 a day for the local leftist propaganda sheet. Crooked politicians everywhere rejoice at the end of serious news reporting with in depth investigative reporting.
ReplyDeleteI've done all of these things...I still do *usually* sit down and enjoy breakfast. Social Change creeping in through the cracks of my life...
ReplyDelete