{"id":1319666,"date":"2020-04-27T23:24:01","date_gmt":"2020-04-28T05:24:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.postindependent.com\/ok-boomer\/"},"modified":"2020-04-27T23:24:01","modified_gmt":"2020-04-28T05:24:01","slug":"ok-boomer","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kske\/local-news\/ok-boomer\/","title":{"rendered":"OK Boomer"},"content":{"rendered":"<figure class=\"wp-block-image p402_hide\">\n<div class=\"caption-container\"> <img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"1024\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn.postindependent.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2020\/04\/ColBear-gpi-042820-1024x1024.jpg\" class=\"attachment-large size-large wp-post-image\" alt srcset=\"https:\/\/cdn.postindependent.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2020\/04\/ColBear-gpi-042820-1024x1024.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/cdn.postindependent.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2020\/04\/ColBear-gpi-042820-300x300.jpg 300w, https:\/\/cdn.postindependent.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2020\/04\/ColBear-gpi-042820-150x150.jpg 150w, https:\/\/cdn.postindependent.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2020\/04\/ColBear-gpi-042820-768x768.jpg 768w, https:\/\/cdn.postindependent.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2020\/04\/ColBear-gpi-042820-1536x1536.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/cdn.postindependent.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2020\/04\/ColBear-gpi-042820-2048x2048.jpg 2048w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\"><\/div>\n<\/figure>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\"><em>\u201cI see no hope for the future of our people if they are dependent on frivolous youth of today, for certainly all youth are reckless beyond words\u2026 When I was young, we were taught to be discreet and respectful of elders, but the present youth are exceedingly [disrespectful] and impatient of restraint.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">\u2014 Hesiod, 8th century BC<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText DropCap\">I have to smile whenever I hear or read the latest meme intended to dismiss an older generation \u2014 \u201cOK Boomer\u201d \u2014 because such phrases, and the sentiments behind their creation, have been around since at least the time of Hesiod, probably much longer.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">Gen-X had a similar dismissive phrase: \u201cwhatever.\u201d But we Boomers, warned by our parents to be \u201cseen and not heard\u201d were forced to develop a nonverbal form of dismissal: the eye roll. If executed properly, with head turned away, the eye roll was effective at both dismissing the worst of our parents\u2019 condescending attitudes, while also preventing us from getting smacked in the face for our disrespect.<\/p>\n<div class=\"row\">\n<div class=\"col\" readability=\"6\">\n<div class=\"row gspi-donation gspi-donation-mobile p-0\" readability=\"7\">\n<div class=\"col-xl-4 p-2\">\n<div data-bg=\"url(https:\/\/cdn.postindependent.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2020\/03\/PI-logo-white.png)\" class=\"p-0 mt-2 mb-2 h-75 text-center rocket-lazyload\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn.postindependent.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2020\/03\/PI-logo-white.png\" class=\"logo m-0 p-0 invisible\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p><h3 class=\"d-inline mr-3\">Support Local Journalism<\/h3>\n<p><button class=\"btn d-inline\" type=\"button\" onclick=\"handleDonationButtonClickMidArticle()\">Donate<\/button><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">Talking back, as it was called then, was not allowed, even if your intent was simply to defend yourself.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">So I actually enjoy hearing \u201cOK Boomer,\u201d because it means that the younger generation has been taught to call it the way they see it, without fear of retaliation. Or maybe they just think we Boomers are old and not much of a threat anymore.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">Either way, it\u2019s a good barometer of the fight lurking in the subconscious of a generation gearing up to take charge.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">There\u2019s another popular meme, probably created by a Boomer, that says Millennials developed a sense of entitlement because, as youths, they were given medals simply for participating. I don\u2019t think that argument holds up to closer scrutiny.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">First of all, it was us Boomers who were handing out those medals, possibly in a misguided attempt to not be like our parents. And second, I doubt if those experiences had any long-range negative effect on Millennials. They\u2019re smarter than that.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">As dad to two Millennial daughters, I collected boxes full of participation ribbons, medals and trophies when they were young, only to find out that they had no interest in any of it after they became adults. They saw those \u201cawards\u201d for what they were \u2014 an attempt by their parents to help them feel good about themselves.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">The truth, as I see it, is that the war of memes between the generations is all just a big misunderstanding. Like seemingly everything else in our world today, it\u2019s a case of humans giving in to our tribal instincts \u2014 an \u201cus vs. them\u201d moment.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">Psychologists say that it\u2019s every child\u2019s greatest wish for their parents\u2019 generation to understand them. The flip side of that is that elders want to be seen by the younger generation as wisened sages.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">From my perspective, this is where the misunderstanding occurs: We Boomers aren\u2019t intentionally trying to sound condescending; we\u2019re trying to sound wise. We want to give our children the benefit of our life experience, not because we think we\u2019re smarter, but because we\u2019ve seen and experienced a few things that could be useful information for them. But of course, that\u2019s not the way our words are perceived.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">The truth is, we thought our parents were condescending, too. In the \u201960s and \u201970s our parents hated everything about us \u2014 our hair, our clothes, our music, our drug use, our attitudes \u2014 and they weren\u2019t shy about telling us how disappointed we made them.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">As an adult I\u2019ve looked back on those times and wondered if my parents were right to criticize us, not about our hair, clothes or music, but about the way we were conducting our lives. We were \u2014 I was \u2014 a bit lackadaisical and unmotivated, moving from one thing to another without a clear plan for my future.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">But I was smart, and I got over it, just like my smart Millennial daughters and their generation got over it.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">Now we all need to get over our petty differences and realize how much we do have in common.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText Tagline\">Jeff Bear is a Reporter and Copy Editor for the Post Independent. You can reach him at <a href=\"mailto:jbear@postindependent.com\">jbear@postindependent.com<\/a><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.postindependent.com\/opinion\/columns\/ok-boomer\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">via:: Post Independent<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>\u201cI see no hope for the future of our people if they are dependent on frivolous youth of today, for certainly all youth are reckless beyond words\u2026 When I was young, we were taught to be discreet and respectful of elders, but the present youth are exceedingly [disrespectful] and impatient of restraint.\u201d \u2014 Hesiod, 8th [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[160],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-1319666","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-local-news"},"acf":[],"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-07-05 19:00:59","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"distributor_meta":false,"distributor_terms":false,"distributor_media":false,"distributor_original_site_name":"KSKE Ski Country","distributor_original_site_url":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kske","push-errors":false,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kske\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1319666","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kske\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kske\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kske\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kske\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1319666"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kske\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1319666\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kske\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1319666"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kske\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1319666"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kske\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1319666"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}