Okay, Boomer! 15 Habits That Drive Millennials Nuts
It should come as no surprise that the way Baby Boomers and Millennials see the world is vastly different. Boomers, born from 1946 to 1964, are often the parents or grandparents of Millennials born from 1981 to 1996.
This age disparity often leads to disagreements and issues over everything from religion and politics to everyday life events, women’s rights, and other mainstream topics. It can also lead to differences of opinion regarding daily, weekly, or even lifestyle habits that one generation picks up over another.
If you exist outside these two differing generations and have ever wondered about the chasm of space between them, we’re here to help. We’ve created a list of the most aggravating habits Boomers cling to that greatly annoy their Millennial counterparts.
1. Antiquated Slang
We all know Boomers are aging. If they haven’t retired, they’ll soon be ready to retire. However, their need to hold to the catch-phrase mentality of their generation can grate on the nerves of the millennials they know and even ones they don’t.
No one says “groovy” or “far out” anymore, and Millennials are over listening to these annoying sound bites from this older generation.
2. Email Etiquette
Millennials are all about quick, fast chats and general correspondence. They don’t need every detail, nor do they need to know your entire name. This scenario is especially true if the email isn’t particularly formal.
If you’re writing to your grandchild, you don’t have to sign it with your name; they know who you are. Greet them, give a summary of details, tell them you love them, and be done.
3. Chicken–Pecking Type
Boomers grew up in the typewriter era, which most likely did not require learning to use. However, Millennials grew up in the computer age, when everyone learned how to use a keyboard.
If you’re a Boomer who hasn’t learned to type correctly, do your correspondence privately because this generation hates the one-finger typing you’re bound to perform.
4. Obnoxious Conversations
Millennials can put up with noise and rowdy conversations. However, the Boomer generations need to shout everything into their cellphones as if the person on the other end is hearing impaired, which is not cool.
This tech-savvy group appreciates a civil, reasonable volume that does not deprive the person on your call of hearing what you have to say.
5. Caps Lock Communication
My aunt was an avid user of the caps lock key on her keyboard and had no idea she was yelling at her audience when she posted on Facebook. In Internet speak, the capslock key is akin to yelling at your readers or audience and is offensive and rude.
Please only use the caps lock key if you would scream your message in someone’s face if you saw them in person. Considering the range of internet content, we’ll guess your message may reach more than just your intended target, so please don’t scream.
6. Long-Winded Voicemails
My daughter, who belongs to Gen Z, hates it when I send her a message because I am detail-oriented and often tell her too much to remember.
Like Gen Z, Millennials don’t need your ten-minute diatribe over three voicemail messages. Cut out all the fluff and get to your point as quickly and precisely as possible.
7. Selfie-Sabotage
Almost nothing irritates a tech-intense Millennial quite like seeing a terribly executed selfie. If you aren’t familiar with proper selfie techniques and you post a bad image, Millennials will certainly let you know.
For many of them, it’s a big pet peeve to see poor-quality photos posted online.
8. Cringey Dance Moves
Dancing is not the same thing as dancing well. One is appropriate for public display, and the other is not. Millennials will not only feel embarrassed by your nonchalant breakdance session but will also turn and walk away to leave you all by yourself.
They don’t mess around with public second-hand embarrassment!
9. Passive-Aggressive Emojis
Millennials want you to say it straight and usually to their face. They don’t want to beat around the bush and wait to decipher what you mean.
Those passive-aggressive emoji icons are not doing it for this group. Say what you mean and mean what you say.
10. Never Reply All
No one has time to read every email that slides into their inbox. Boomers who lack basic email etiquette and have a love affair with the “reply all” button will quickly find their work email in the spam folder.
Millennials want to communicate only about what is absolutely necessary during their work hours. Make your emails count.
11. Living Life as a Billboard
Millennials are proud of their children and their own accomplishments. However, they don’t want to hear or see you blast the achievements and accolades of your entire family everywhere you go.
Pictures of your family are great, but they have a limit. Please don’t plaster your work area with every family picture, award, or sound bite from every member of your family. Oversharing isn’t cool.
12. Tech Savviness
Millennials understand that they are the first actual computer generation. Boomers didn’t grow up with the same technology, and a bit of a knowledge gap is understandable. However, the IT people you call aren’t there to help you turn your television on or fix the outlet issue in your home.
They’re there to troubleshoot actual tech problems. Call them when you have an actual problem, not to compensate for your ignorance.
13. Captain Obvious
Boomers tend to state the obvious on a regular basis. This habit can quickly grate on the nerves as with most younger generations. It essentially says, “You’re so oblivious you need me to tell you what’s going on,” as if we can’t put two and two together ourselves.
Don’t patronize younger people, especially if you don’t want anyone to patronize you right back.
14. Oblivious to Texting Norms
Texting is another area where Boomers fall behind the eight ball in knowledge. Being able to navigate this ever-changing communication landscape can be difficult. Even Millennials struggle to communicate with Gen Z youngsters.
However, staying willfully ignorant of texting norms, like not capitalizing a word in the middle, separating your thoughts with a space, not running your words together, and keeping your texts short and sweet, is not the way to endear yourself to the Millennial generation.
15. Printer Perils
Printers can be just as confusing to Boomers as computers, smartphones, and other tech gadgets. Once they hit the print button, the compulsion to keep hitting it isn’t easy to stop.
Helping Boomers understand what they need to print and what they don’t can be daunting, but it’s worth the effort to cut down on ink and paper costs. Not to mention, printers are obnoxiously loud and irritating. The quieter office alone is worth the effort.
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