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There is an ebb and flow of ideas, customs, and what society considers proper behavior. When a new generation takes over the helm, those tend to change. Some parts of our daily lives are likely never to change, but when commenters at a beloved Internet forum asked what the future holds after the Baby Boomers’ time is over, some had very definitive answers.
1. Not The Kind That Comes In A Can
Cell phones come with anti-spam software. Instead of running to pick up the phone, people casually ignore their phone when it rings, just like a contemptuous Tyler Durden.
We frequently see pleas to text me! An anti-spam fan said, “Hopefully, making spam calls will become unprofitable once there aren’t enough people willing to answer random numbers.”
2. Whoooo?
Another future relic that users mentioned is the restaurant chain Hooters. One European man stated that he had taken his family to the restaurant to check it out because the idea seemed so odd. He noticed that he and his family were the youngest people in the establishment by at least two decades.
With the rise of the third wave of feminism and #MeToo, a restaurant based on objectifying women doesn’t seem like an idea that has long to go.
3. A Cabinet of Curiosities
Part of the marriage ritual is creating a registry of gift ideas that wedding guests could contribute to the newlyweds. One of the most popular items used to be expensive China dinnerware sets for formal dinner parties or as family heirlooms.
Since neither traditional dinner parties nor family heirlooms are popular these days, the days of people having large cabinets full of China are numbered.
This GenX-er was much more interested in using the cabinet for alcohol. They went through the process while getting married, bought the cabinet, and put their chosen China patterns on their wedding registry, and then, it simply went unused. It wasn’t until they started storing liquor in the cabinet that they started using it more often. Then that treasured cabinet became known as their household’s China and Liquor cabinet.
4. Checkmate!
Debit cards and payment apps are kings now, and the once mighty dollar bill and checks are virtually unused today. A commenter stated that they don’t see checks lasting much longer. The only reason their town’s local grocery stores accept checks and the city government insists on checks for payment is that the owners are Boomers.
5. It Doesn’t Suit You
Business casual has also taken over in the workplace. It seems that all those Casual Fridays and their popularity has taken their toll. Several forum members commented that suits are on the way out. This person said, “Suits have already become a thing of the past at many workstations, and the workstations that still mandate them, such as finance, will abolish suits once the baby boomers have gone.”
However, another stated that suits still have some relevance in other quarters, “I’ve seen a clear difference in how women I see every day would look or talk to me. Oh, and my boss asked me if I was doing job interviews.”
6. Tattoo You
Your grandmother may have told you that only sailors or a ne’er do well-got tattoos, but it’s hard to find someone who doesn’t have a tattoo these days. Many users agreed, but this tattoo fan spelled out the ending of this prejudice and stated that the rules used to say that employees couldn’t have visible tattoos. Since so many people have tattoos, the business realizes that rule isn’t workable.
It turns out that what is important to the residents at a care facility, who are of the older generation, only care about being treated well and having a competent staff.
The manager in charge of this facility under discussion was a woman with full-sleeve tattoos on both arms, and she was very pleasant and competent. So it seems like this prejudice won’t last much longer.
7. It’s Okay To Cry
Another opinion that is changing fast is that “men have to be tough” and teaching boys to deny their feelings in favor of acting like they are emotionless.
A sympathetic person talked about the issue and thought it was essential to teach young children, especially male children, not to be afraid of their emotions and to express them in a healthy way. It’s valid and worthy of note that the only way you learn to deal with your feelings is by experiencing them.
This person said, “Don’t force your kids to be your ideal version of them. Instead, let them discover their perfect version of themselves.”
8. Stand Up, Sit Down
Forcing retail employees to stand when it isn’t necessary is another custom that doesn’t seem to have much more time in the world. For example, cashiers can sit while ringing customers up in Europe and certain European chain stores that have migrated to the United States.
Seeing this in stores has caused many to question the wisdom of forcing clerks to stand. This commenter stated, “I worked for a mom-and-pop video store in the 90s, and we were only allowed to sit if we had fewer than three customers. Boomers are weird.”
9. Take This. You Might Need It
People have started to question the need for insurance policies in general. Still, this poster was suspicious of the need for long-term care insurance policies to provide money for when an older person needs skilled nursing for day-to-day needs.
They said, “Long-term care insurance policies. Younger generations will have figured out that these policies are highway robbery. They won’t buy into this nonsense.” They joked, “We will die young as nature intended.”
10. Calling In Sick
Especially after the pandemic showed how unwise it is to go out while you are actively infectious and showed the benefits of quarantine, people have started realizing that their health is more important. This commenter waggishly said, “Showing up to work unless you’re actively dying. And even then, you better have a note.”
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This article originally appeared on Financially Well Off.
